


Beyond the Sea

by Batkatbrown



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Cute, Eventual Smut, Eventual fish dick, Feelings First, Fluff, G/T, GT, Hunter Hanzo, M/M, Magic, McHanzo - Freeform, Merman Jesse, Mild Horror, Size Differences, Slow Burn, TINY - Freeform, curse, eventual gt smut, giant, mercree, merman
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-01
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-03-25 15:29:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 32
Words: 48,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13837683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Batkatbrown/pseuds/Batkatbrown
Summary: “What does the tank hold?” Hanzo murmured, not turning as the witch plucked the unicorn tail for his needs.“Something of a pet, a misbehaving one at that,” she chuckled, the sound lacing with her voice in strange, compelling ways. “Come out and say hello, Jesse.”A shiver raced down Hanzo’s spine. At first there was only a flurry of bubbles and a cloud of dust going into the water from the cave but then something moved. With a flash of red scales a tiny creature appeared.





	1. Chapter 1

The witch’s shop was dark and cluttered, too full of the tools of the trade to be welcoming to the public. Most stayed far away, knowing it was dangerous to make deals with a witch. But those that had need of her the most could not afford to stay safe.

Hanzo was such a man and he walked into the shop with a clear mission. At the best of times, he would have spent the time gathering his own supplies to craft charms and wards against the evil he hunted. 

It was not the best of times.

The witch of the waste was an unassuming figure at first as she hunched over the counter, frantically scribbling in one of several open books. She did not look up at the quiet chime of the bell over the door and Hanzo did not disturb her.

Their arrangement was friendly at best and deadly at worst. He had several scars to prove the wisdom of silence and respect to the working witch. 

Ducking under a sprig of sage bundled with lavender and the bones of a field mouse, Hanzo stepped lightly to the shelf of supplies. Ignoring the shimmering, glowing items and enchanted specimens that lured casual shoppers, he plucked dead man’s ashes, the talon of a hawk and a shard of a knight’s broken sword. There were other smaller items to find though he knew where they were for the most part.

“You will find what you seek in the silver display case.” The witch’s voice betrayed nothing and she had not looked up from her book when Hanzo glanced her way. “For a price, of course.”

Hanzo knew better than to scoff and he dutifully went to examine the case for the strands of unicorn hair that were necessary to bind the spell to the shafts of his arrows.

It was there, shimmering iridescence in the golden shop light. The velvet blue pillow seemed to ripple, as if to show off the colors of its burden. A wave of relief moved through him to see the price had not changed since the last time he had dared venture into the den of magic and mystery. 

“I will take two strands, sixteen inches in length.” He didn’t tap on the glass though he itched to. 

“Very well.”

He stepped aside, not wishing to be too close to the witch. Her aura burned in his nose, acrid and sharp as ozone. It brought him to the case of oddities, a dangerous collection of items whose use was unknown or simply better left unspoken. His gaze skipped over the display, trying not to settle on anything too long else he wake it or draw it’s attention.

There was something different within the mess today, a flash of reflected light dancing in the darkness. He didn’t dare reach for it, not right away but he shifted his position to see. It was a fish tank, unassuming at first with dirty glass and chipped black edges.

The fake plastic plants had seen better days. A rather sorry affair all together. Hanzo peered closer, looking for what fish could have ended up with the misfortune of living in a witch’s shop. There were a few bubbles from the fake stone cave, a large treasure chest sitting at the top and a spill of fake gold coins were painted on. It was a tank set up with little thought or perhaps a touch of cruelty.

“What does the tank hold?” Hanzo murmured, not turning as the witch plucked the unicorn tail for his needs.

“Something of a pet, a misbehaving one at that,” she chuckled, the sound lacing with her voice in strange, compelling ways. “Come out and say hello, Jesse.”

A shiver raced down Hanzo’s spine. At first there was only a flurry of bubbles and a cloud of dust going into the water from the cave but then something moved. With a flash of red scales a tiny creature appeared.

Hanzo’s mouth quirked up in one corner, the closest he’d been to a smile in years. “A miniature merman?” He confirmed before leaning close, peering as the little being swam to the glass. He was dirty and far too thin, long dark hair tangled and knotted around his head. His left arm was gone at the elbow and poorly healed.

Whoever had brought him to the witch had not cared for the pet. 

Anger burned under his collar as he put a single, gloved finger to the glass. The merman called Jesse raised a hand, weakly touching as it he understood the gesture. He was little more than an intelligent octopus, there was no soul or humanity within it. 

The gesture still warmed Hanzo’s stone heart. 

“He has caused problems in the past and been returned several times.” The witch called from the counter, amusement clear in the timbre of her voice. “If he was not such a rare oddity, I would have thrown him in the ocean long ago.”

Hanzo bit down a retort, unbelieving anyone could harshly toss the little fish into the ocean to fend for himself. A part of him knew she was playing with him, toying with a lonely soul with something she wanted.

“Your price?” he couldn’t look away from the merman. The man was smiling weakly, batting the glass with his hand.

“Nothing as loathsome as you are fearing.” The witch giggled, a truly unsettling sound full of the gnash of teeth and crackle right before a lightning strike. “You can even take him for free but if you return him; I will require your hair ribbon. Yes-” she cut Hanzo off before he could even speak. “The hair ribbon your dearly departed brother gave you that you wear like a talisman. There is power within it.”

“You are so confident I will discard this creature?”

“All others have before you. It is a dangerous task to undertake.”

Hanzo looked at the tiny merman, sick and frail with patches of his scales falling off, in a tank with a locked and magically bound lid and something brittle inside him broke. “I will care for him. I will not abandon him because he is broken.”

-

 

Hanzo did not remember the rest of his dealings with the witch clearly, as if the very shop held a magic that confused and eroded time. His wallet was much lighter and the now empty tank was sitting on the deep window ledge in the small house. The sun warm on the west facing spot and the unexpected purchase was in the sink taking a much needed bath.

Hanzo watched with amusement as the creature lounged on a small island made of dishes and a fresh sponge in the middle. He was jabbering in a language Hanzo could not understand, just a whispering rustle of sound too faint to try to decipher. He seemed to enjoy the sound nonetheless and the merman babbled to himself while using a chunk of sponge and fine sand to scrub himself with. 

A chunk of mostly devoured fresh shrimp lay on the sponge next to him and he had gulped down a thimble of drinking water. The color was back in his cheeks even if he was too thin for his large frame. Hanzo would help with that though now all he could do was trail a fingertip through the warm water.

It seemed to amuse Jesse and he would occasionally abandon his grooming to swim over to the digit. The tiny hand would grab at it and Jesse hugged around it tight. Hanzo gently swirled the finger around the edge of the sink, giving Jesse a ride as it were.

He was rewarded for his latest effort with slaps of the man’s red fin against the surface of the water. “Are you trying to ask for another ride?” Hanzo chuckled, wiggling his finger tip as if to jostle the creature free.

Jesse refused to be budged, holding on until Hanzo took him around the sink another time and then back to the island. The sad realization that the sink was bigger than Jesse’s previous tank made his heart sink. He would have to purchase the biggest he could find and have it enchanted. Though he was unsure what the spells were that scrawled every available inch of black metal on the old one, something to be wary of and investigate.

“Would you like a bigger tank?” Hanzo cooed, wincing to hear himself speaking out loud to a pet. It was an embarrassing thing for a man nearing forty to still indulge in such fancy. 

Regardless, he would need to remove himself long enough to procure better lodging for his new companion. He considered leaving Jesse to bath and relax in the sink. The merman seemed content to eat, clean and splash the time away. He had no other pets to worry about and it was not as if the merman could climb out and flop away.

It still prickled in the back of his mind, seeing the spells for binding and sealing glowing before his eyes. He blinked them away and went to fetch the old tank. He would feel better if Jesse was not out in the open, for both their sakes.

 

-

 

It was almost dusk by the time Hanzo returned to his home, bearing the new massive tank, several bags full of ‘enrichment’ and fresh sashimi quality fish for Jesse to try. He was unsure what to feed him but the typical food, even at the petstore in the magic district, did not seem to fit. Feeding Jesse little dried pellets seemed somehow inhumane.

Jesse was asleep in the cave in his old tank when Hanzo checked on him. The shine of his tail seemed brighter. Or perhaps it was just that way because the water in the tank was now clean.

Hanzo hummed softly to himself as he prepared the new home for his pet. The instructions were simple enough though for a typical magical fish instead of for a merman. Hanzo only hoped it would be better than the the previous owner’s attempt.

The humming turned to singing, voice rumbling an old lullaby in Japanese as he worked on his task. It took longer than he had intended but he accomplished it before sundown. The new tank was filled with as many live plants as he could and places to hide and things to play with.

“Come here, Jesse,” he crooned, feeling less self conscious this time.

The merman appeared from the cave in his enchanted tank, swimming lazily to the surface. He did not swim in a straight line, wavering as his missing arm threw him off balance. Perhaps the injury was freshly healed.

“I hope you enjoy your new home,” Hanzo dipped his hand into the water, amused as Jesse swam into the dip and aggressively hugged his thumb. “Perhaps you are part octopus,” Hanzo mused, curling his index finger to stroke the cool skin of the creature’s back. 

He did not receive any answer other than a vigorous slap of Jesse’s tail. It was enough for him and he carefully moved the tiny merman to the new tank. The creature instantly dove away from his hand to explore, disappearing into the thick lush greenery on the deep end.

Hanzo drew a chair up to the tank and found himself strangely able to relax as he watched the merman. Sometimes coming to the glass to eagerly slap the glass until he offered the touch of his fingertip and others wriggling through the fake corel shelf. He fit through most of the holes, seeming to enjoy poking his head out to peek-a-boo before diving again.

There was a section that rose out of the water, near the heat lamp with fresh sand and a large stone to sun himself on. There was a platter of minced sashimi salmon there as well as fresh water. Hanzo was unsure if Jesse would prefer the food dumped into the water.

His worries were put to rest when the merman took the fist sized bit of meat and ate it with glee. His hunger seemed insatiable and he devoured all that Hanzo put inside. It was almost worrying, seeing the miniature thing eat as much as Hanzo himself did. Though his was laid over rice tonight and washed down with a glass of wine.

Hanzo was reluctant to leave the merman but the hours were stretching towards midnight and he would rise early in the morning. “Goodnight, Jesse,” he murmured, giving the glass one last gentle tap. The merman flitted from the farthest corner to touch the clear pane in the same spot.

Hanzo paused to click the enchanted lock closed on the cage before going to bed upstairs.

 

-

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Jesse swam back to the large rock on the right side of his tank and dipped low to find his chosen hidey hole. It was just big enough for him to squeeze in and curl into a tight bundle. His belly was full and he allowed himself to relax against the stone. The water was warm and clean in his gills and for a moment, he almost felt like himself again.

He woke at midnight as if by the chime of a clock.

The witching hour grew around him and the magical symbols glowed around the tank. They shimmered and flickered as the witch’s power ran through the glass and iron bindings on the edge of the prison. He could hear her cackle still and he curled tight around himself with a whimper.

At least his new master was kinder than his last.

He held onto that sliver of hope through the dark of the night.

Sleep was strange in the weightlessness and he still struggled to get rest. He was awake before his master, rising to the sunny rock above the water under the light. It was brightening to simulate dawn and he rolled in the fine sand and warmth.

He took time to scrub himself down yet again. Dull scales fell out of his tail as he rubbed sand over it and he carefully gathered them. He washed each one in the water and set it carefully aside. It was hard to part with them and he wished he looked better.

Gently worked his hair with the sand, he scoured away the grease and rank of the old tank he couldn’t get out earlier. Untangling it took longer and he delved into the task to avoid the ravaging hunger coiled in his belly like a beast.

Hanzo appeared on soft feet, the vibrations only stirring the water around his fin the slightest amount. His hair was down and curling around his face. The mark of a ponytail worn too long put a strange kink in it and exhaustion colored the man’s face.

“Goodmorning sweetheart,” Jesse called, knowing that the sound came out as babbling chitter. Another cruel twist of the witch’s curse.

“Why hello there,” Hanzo purred the words and they rumbled around jesse. “Good to see you up and enjoying yourself.”

“I would enjoy myself more with some breakfast?” Jesse raised his hand up, and then to his mouth.

“Hungry? Me too.” Hanzo chuckled and dipped a fingertip into the warm water near him.

Jesse pushed off the sandy rock and nuzzled the digit happily. Hanzo smelled good and he sank his teeth into the tough callous on the pad of his index finger. Playfully gnawing at it, he soothed any sting with happy little pats. The salt on his master’s skin was delicious and something primal and insticual demanded he gather as much as he could. Kissing and licking, he gulped down the gritty resource with a coo of pleasure.

Hanzo hummed in response and wiggled the digit. Jesse wasn’t having it and hugged his arm around it. He put his cheek on the warm solid weight and pouted up. 

“Okay, Okay, i’ll get breakfast going.”

Hanzo lifted his hand from the water and Jesse wrapped himself around the finger as hard as he could. “Don’t leave. Please.”

“Do you… wish to come over to the kitchen?” Hanzo looked puzzled, his head tilted to the side and blinking sleep from his eyes.

Jesse eagerly nodded and when that didn’t get the response he wanted, he switched to slapping his tail loudly against the water’s surface. “C’mon, Darlin, let me be close to you. Closer to the food? Please?”

Hanzo glanced around the room and Jesse started to wilt. He would be regulated to his tank and left to starve until Hanzo had eaten and completed his morning. Maybe not even fed until that afternoon or later if the man remembered. It was a familiar type of loneliness.

“One moment,” Hanzo’s voice was pitched low and thoughtful. He pulled away from the tank and walked into the kitchen. Jesse was left to drift in the warm water and pushed against the glass in the shelter of swaying plants. The shadows let him hide away, free to stare as Hanzo checked in different cabinets and dragged out a skillet and a rice cooker.

A large pot that he filled with water before pausing to scroll through his phone for a few minutes. The sunlight filtered through the large window over the gas stove and a light breeze stirred the dangling collection of warding charms, dried herbs and living vines that had overtaken the space. 

“You’re a weird one,” Jesse sighed, absently gnawing on a leaf just to give his mouth something to do. He was so hungry. He would kill for a hunk of meat and the bright bitter tang of blood.

It always started the same way, the hunger, the need. He tried to stop it, biting his lip and pushing down the urges. He just needed to eat something. Shoving the leave into his mouth he ground it with a low, bubbling growl. It helped some and he spit out the paste to fill his fanged maw without the thick stem of the plant instead. 

The fibrous strands burst apart under his powerful jaw, watching Hanzo shape sausage patties. Fire burned in Jesse’s chest at the bloody scent of pork and the hulking figure of pure muscle and meat handling it.

A long, wiggling tongue slide past his lips, licking at the water as if he could taste the man himself. His pupil grew slitted and narrowed as he tracked each movement. The gentle sway of his tail in the water promised a deadly burst of power and speed if the glass had not been in the way.

His claws scratched the smooth surface as Hanzo approached the tank. His blood was hot and loud in his veins, pounding against his brain. Watching Hanzo pick up a piece of barely cooked meat and lower it to the water’s surface.

The human said something, a cooing bubbling sound that barely registered. Jesse burst out of the water and swiped the glob of meat and diving down to death roll around it. He slashed it and ripped the meat in a frenzy. The water bubbled furiously around him and grew dingy. He destroyed his prey thoroughly before skimming chunks of meat from the water. It was harder to eat with just one hand but he stuffed himself quickly.

As soon as he cleaned the water of the bits of meat, more was placed carefully on the lamp warmed rock. He raced through the water after it, splashing to show his dominance before beaching himself.

The meat tasted better without the water and he shoved his face down into the pile. Too eager to waste with manners, he stuffed himself on the offering. When it was gone, another replaced it and he fell on it just a furiously.

It went on and on in that fashion, the expression on Hanzo’s face unreadable, until it was finally enough. Jesse gasped for breath in the sands, realizing he’d been eating so fast he had forgotten to get enough air.

It sickened him.

He was too full to move, face down on the sand with the lamp heating his back. He wished he could hide from his master’s gaze. The tank water was dirty with meat and shredded plants and he hated it.

“Feeling better, Jesse?”

The little merman could only nod and slap his tail against the water. He put his hands on his slightly swollen middle as the fires inside him cooled. It was almost chilly now, despite the lamp and warmed water.

Hanzo settled near him with his own plate of food and Jesse was left to warm himself under the light. He stayed there on dry land until Hanzo had eaten his breakfast, it gave him time to digest a little and the madness fall away. 

He slipped below the water’s surface and swam to the bottom. He kicked up the sand and gravel at the base of the rock with his tail. Wiggling into the little hollow, he tucked himself up and looked up through the waving strands of flora. He remembered the taste of leaves and the hard crunch of the stems. It was for the best that he was locked up where the curse couldn’t turn him into a real monster.

“Jesse? Do you want to come out?” Hanzo’s voice rumbled above him and his pretty face appeared. A dark strand of hair cascaded down and wavered on the surface. It glimmered with the lamp light. 

Jesse agreed with a slap of his tail on the bottom of the tank. He wanted to be held and soothed and made to feel normal but there was a fear in the back of his mind. He was dangerous.

“I need to clean your tank, Jesse,” Hanzo murmured, mouth curled into a gentle smile. “I have prepared a pot of clean water for you to relax in while i work.” Hanzo lowered his finger into the water and wiggled it like a tasty worm.

Jesse was lured out of his hidy place, slowly stretching up to bump his head against the fingertip. He didn’t push passed the surface, just nuzzling the rough skin. His powerful tail kept him in place easily in the water and he used his webbed hand to trace the swirl of Hanzo’s fingerprint.

It twitched against him before Hanzo was suddenly gently petting him. Jesse froze, a great gulp of water rushing into his gills. The touch was so careful, patting at the curve of his shoulder and down his back. A light stroke had him shivering and arching his back into it.

Ripples of pleasure spread out from the warm caress and he bunted his head and shoulders up against the touch. A second finger joined the first and he was delicately grasped between them. Fear zap through him and his ribs expanded in anticipation of a cruel squeeze. Water gushed off his scales and back as he was lifted out of the tank and settled into Hanzo’s other hand.

He wriggled in the man’s palm, fearfully clutching whatever he could grab. Heaving breaths shook his frame and he struggled to breathe air. The surface of the shelf was so far below and he was slippery and small. He wrapped his tail up and around till he covered himself with his flashy red fin. 

Hanzo murmured to him in a foreign language, tone soothing. He couldn’t stop shaking, feeling each tiny shift in Hanzo’s hand beneath him. “Please, shit, please put me down or somethin’. Fuck,” he swore and slapped the smaller fins by his hips down against hanzo’s palm.

“Do not fear, Jesse.” Hanzo’s fingers curled over him in a comforting cave. “It is alright. I am not going to drop you.”

“I don’t know that.” Jesse grumbled but he did pull the edge of his fin back a little so he could peer up at his master. 

Hanzo stroked Jesse’s chest tenderly with his index finger. It was warm and solid and he found himself melting. It brought a flush to his cheeks and something wild and rough thickened in his veins. He indulgently rolled his hips and tail to reposition himself. It felt safer with his back pressed to Hanzo’s curled fingers and his tail lazily wrapped around his thumb.

Hanzo brushed against his stomach and traced over one hip. He laughed and snorted as it tickled. Hanzo joined him, the sound deep and rumbling. It made Jesse’s heart leap and thunder in time. He flashed his tail, showing off the red and gold flecked scales.

“You’re a handsome merman,” Hanzo praised, sending shivers to the tip of Jesse’s fins. It was followed with tender caresses over his belly and down the curve of his side. Jesse rolled to grab it with his good arm and he bumped his nose and face against the first knuckle. 

“You are mighty fine lookin’ too, Hanzo.” he flashed a roguish wink and smile, full of sharp teeth that could rip through flesh and bone.

 


	3. Chapter 3

Hanzo crooned to the tiny merman in his hand, murmuring an old lullaby his mother used to sing to him and his brother when they were small and wild. It seemed to please the creature along with the soft pets on his chest and belly.

“Your skin is surprisingly warm,” he informed the tiny man. It did not seem like the result of a fever and Jesse’s scales were already looking shinier.

Jesse responded by slapping his fins against his palm and burrowing deeper into his palm. He curled his fingers protectively before glancing back to the kitchen. “I need to do some spell work, would you like to watch?”

Jesse slapped his tail loudly, wriggling to flash the pretty pink underside of his fin. It seemed the small creature was curious or perhaps it was all just a coincidence. 

Hanzo held Jesse to his chest inside his hand as he made his way back to the kitchen counter. After a moment, he settled Jesse in a large clear bowl of water and situated a mug to be a small island. Jesse splashed around the edge, getting a few drops on the counter, before curling up on the mug. He hugged his tail to himself, eyes huge in his tan faced and chattering away in a nonsense language.

Hanzo reached down to gently boop the top of his damp head. “Let’s get to work, shall we?” 

The morning passed comfortably as Hanzo preformed the routine of enchanting arrows to fly straight even through wind and rain. Bandages were enchanted to staunch blood and burn out infection and Hanzo carefully stitched together tiny pouches of black sand and silk with unicorn hair as thread.

Those went into the pockets of his favored coat and jacket and were stitched in with blessed red thread. It would ward against finding spells and seeking gazes. Jesse watched him attentively, squeaking and bubbling away as if to encourage or scold and Hanzo found himself talking more and more.

“I will sew you a handsome shirt someday,” he murmured as he packed away the needle and thread. “Would you like something flashy and pretty?”

Jesse slapped the water lazily with one hand, curled up with his head resting on his tail. A jaw cracking yawn revealed the sharp teeth and Hanzo cooed as he offered his hand. “Look at you, deadly little fella.”

Jesse lazily swam into his offered palm and looped an arm around his thumb to anchor himself.

“I am going to procure some nice fat fish for you to hunt. You probably need to exercise your animal instincts more than just tearing up chunks of meat.”

Jesse hugged his finger tighter and a low, primal growl reverberated from his tiny chest.

 

-

 

Days passed and Jesse found himself growing thicker and stronger. Every morning Hanzo dropped a small fish into the tank and left Jesse to stalk and hunt to his heart’s content and when the hours started to turn long sashimi was placed carefully in the tank.

The hunger was kept carefully at bay but it was always there under the surface. Two days ago, Hanzo had put four minnows in the tank and said goodbye with a blown kiss.

Jesse watched bubbles filter through the water and waving foliage to pop. Shadows flickered from a juicy little thing destined to be his breakfast. The door opening distracted him however and the meal zipped out of sight to live for the moment.

“Hanzo, darlin!” He pushed off the bottom with his powerful tail to rise to the surface and press himself against the glass. The roof on his prison was firmly secured with physical and magical locks or he would have pushed it out of the way to get a better look.

Hanzo was hunched, standing in the entryway dripping from the rain outside. His clothes were burned and tattered and the bow on his back was cracked down the middle. Jesse’s heart hurt as he tried to claw his way out of the tank to offer support, to find out what had happened to his kind master.

“Hanzo? Darlin? What happened?” He slapped his palm against the glass and yet Hanzo didn’t hear. 

The hunter walked numbly to the kitchen table and sank into a chair with a low sigh. His head tipped forward and then he crumpled over to rest bodily on the table. 

“Hanzo!” the word burned his lungs with the effort and for a moment the spell wrapped tight around his throat cracked.

Hanzo leapt in his chair, throwing himself back and a knife appeared in his hand. “Who’s there?” he growled, wavering on his feet. Looking wildly around the room, he finally looked at Jesse.

He waved and slammed himself against the glass again until Hanzo came to the tank.

“Did I worry you, Jesse?” Hanzo sighed, leaning over the clear glass lid. “I did not mean too.”

Jesse swam as close as he could, using his tail to push him half out of the water with his hands raised. Fire bubbled in his throat, squashing out his voice and thickening the hold on his weakened body.

“Did you miss me?” hanzo crooned and Jesse swore he could see the shine of unshed tears in his eyes.

Jesse quickly nodded emphatically, hoping the Hanzo could see. He just wanted to comfort the nicest owner he’d had and see what had happened to him.

“I’m so tired… and i got blood on my hands, Jesse. Otherwise i would pick you up.” Hanzo raised his hand and his blood was shiny with blood. Whos it was, Jesse couldn’t tell from the smell. Just that it was rich and spicy and would feel so good sliding down his throat. He licked his lips.

“I’m going to wash up.”

The giant man tapped his finger to his lips and then blew on it gently in an act quickly working magic in Jesse’s chest. He repeated the gesture with a big cheesy wink that made hanzo laugh softly.

“Are you part parrot Jesse? You are good at imitating me.” Hanzo wobbled to his feet and out of the room without waiting for an answer.

Jesse slowly sank to the bottom through waving strands of foliage to his favorite sulking spot. It was over one of the heat coils, nice and warm with some of the best sponges to use as a little bed. He tucked his tail around himself and lay his fin over his back. The neglected minnows flitted around in the water, sending ripples of tantalizing movement but Jesse was more depressed than hungry.

He had wanted to see Hanzo so much and get to lay in ihs palm and try to communicate. Even if he was cursed, he longed for those little moments when he almost felt himself again. He knew the hunger would come as the night trickled onwards to the bewitching hour but he would hunt then.

He listened to the splashing in the bathroom and worried when it stopped. Only the steady splashing of the shower and Jesse swayed his tail. He wanted to go check. What if Hanzo had fallen asleep under the water or collapsed from his wounds?

Jesse reached out his hand, claws extending to razor points and scratched at the glass. If it had been a regular pane, he could have sliced his way out but instead it just bounced off.

He didn’t need to worry long as the bathroom door opened and Hanzo stepped into the hall in a towel. It was slung low on his hips and thrumming desire welled up inside Jesse at the sight. “I’ll be back,” Hanzo called his way as if he could tell Jesse was waiting for him. 

The merman just stared as Hanzo limped away to his bedroom. A massive bruise painted the right side of his shoulder and back a lurid purple. It disappeared beneath the towle and Jesse hissed at whoever had dared to hurt his master.

Had it been a griffin or a wraith that had hurled the man across the room or down onto the ground? Had a unicorn kicked him viciously and trampled him? Had a werewolf dared to manhandle the hunter? Jealousy crackled in his gut and he gnashed his teeth.

If he was only free of the curse, he could help Hanzo and destroy whoever had dared touch him. Even if it was a dastardly witch, he would rip them apart and eat them piece by piece. 

He was startled out of his bloody thoughts when Hanzo appeared with a bright smile cutting through the slog of exhaustion on his face. “I might be too tired to stay upright for long… but who says i cannot bring you with me?”

Jesse swam to the surface with an excited slap of his tail. His throat was raw and he couldn’t speak but he made his joy known as Hanzo picked up the entire tank and simply carried it to his bedroom.

It was small but welcoming once the water had stopped sloshing him around. He turned to tell Hanzo as much but the man was already asleep on his bed with one foot still on the floor. Jesse crooned at the cute way Hanzo’s wings fell against his cheeks and his damp bangs curled over part of his face.

Jesse was happy to catch a fat minnow and stuff himself in preparation for the feverishly destructive hunger that could ruin everything.


	4. Chapter 4

Something was squeaking in the dark room. A chittering that wasn't quite birdsong but was not entirely unpleasant. Except for the thundering headache that twinged at each chirp as Hanzo dragged himself out of oblivion.

Crust kept his eyes sealed shut for a moment and he sighed into the silk pillow. Everything hurt from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Getting blasted by a sonic scream from a dragon could do that to the best of hunters.

He rolled to the side enough to look at Jesse’s tank and the merman chattering at him with a frown. The creature was slapping the glass with a hand but relaxed into the water when they made eye contact.

He managed a smile and pulled his blanket a little higher. He regretted not putting on warmer clothes before passing out and the chill made his toes curl. There really was only one solution that was easy enough to handle half dead.

“I’m going to take a bath,” he murmured to the tiny merman and began to drag himself vertical. The floor wavered and he had to blink it away before standing. Jesse chattered angrily and zipped to the edge of the tank closest to him with a splash of his tail.

Hanzo rubbed the side of his head not covered by a bruise as he watched his pet. Would it be too strange to take the tank into the bathroom with him? It was surely bizarre behavior. No one else would bring a fish with them from place to place in their own house. 

_ He’s not just a fish, _ he sighed at the nagging thought, not sure if he was willing to investigate that trail. Jesse batted his big dark eyes up at him, hand clasped to his chest and a seductive flash and ripple of his bright red tail. It was almost a mating display and Hanzo chuckled. 

“Fine... you can come with me.”

Jesse chattered and rolled in the water splashing and showing off in the early morning sunlight streaming through the window. His eyes seemed to follow Hanzo though as the hunter went to his closet to fish out a part of swim shorts. 

Shucking his pants and underwear he carefully stepped into the small black garment. It hurt to bend over and he winced at the motion. Powerful muscles rippled in his back and thighs as he dragged them up inch by inch.

Slowly letting out a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding, he relaxed against the doorframe of the closet. Pain throbbed behind his eyes and he knew he needed to hydrate to fight it off.

“I’ll be back, Jesse,” Hanzo murmured before slowly trekking out of his bedroom and across the hall to the bath. A massive clawfoot tub took center stage and he turned the enchanted faucet and perfectly hot water gushed out. He fiddled with the knobs to the sides to filter out anything that might hurt and grabbed a small vial of golden fluid. 

He added three drops to the water and the shimmering magic danced across the top. He left it to brew and shuffled downstairs. It was dark and he didn’t bother turning on the lights while he fetched a tall glass of water and a plateful of sashimi grade salmon.

It was not for him though he needed to eat soon. He was more concerned with keeping Jesse full. The memory of those sharp teeth were fresh in his mind.

_ It’s dangerous. _ His mind supplied as he headed back upstairs, ignoring the ache of his limbs. The bounty was worth slaying the dragon that had been harassing a nearby town and killing off livestock.

Jesse scolded him when he finally made it back into the bedroom and Hanzo tried to appease the miniature merman with a hunk of fish. It seemed to do the trick as the little thing swam up and attacked the flesh. Massive chunks disappear faster than Hanzo could see the man take bites and he hummed to cover the greedy wet gurgling sound.

It didn’t take Jesse long to finish his breakfast and Hanzo watched curiously as the tiny creature cleaned himself. He dunked his face in the water and patted himself down from mouth to belly. It pooched out a bit and Hanzo found himself leaning closer.

There was something between the man’s hips he hadn’t noticed before. It was a small slit that extended from the soft human like skin to just past the tiny scales edge. Hanzo tapped a finger softly against the glass and Jesse proudly rolled onto his side with a flash of his tail. He fanned out the fins and waved slowly back and forth.

The little slit opened just a little and a gorgeous coral bit of flesh showed just for a moment. 

Hanzo sat back on the bed, rubbing his face to hide the embarrassment. His cheeks pink as he realized what he had been inspecting so curiously. “Let’s go, Jesse.”

 

\--

 

Jesse preened under Hanzo’s attention, showing off the powerful curve of his tail and the strong membrane between the spines. Hanzo’s chest was so close he could see the delicate pebbled texture around his nipples. The cold air had worked it’s magic and Jesse ached to reach up and wrap his fingers around the fat bud and squeeze.

HIs body responded to the hunters closeness and he rolled his hips invitingly as his slit grew flushed. It was the first time since his run in with the witch that he had felt the flush of heat and surge of desire curling through his body.

“Darlin’, why don’t you pick me up for a proper look?” Jesse crooned, flashing his best smile at the blushing man. “I promise I won’t bite now that I’m fed.”

Hanzo of course could not hear his flirting but Jesse figured he could still try his luck. Or at least enjoy the particular vantage point his size gave him. He licked his lips as Hanzo picked up the heavy tank.

It made the tendons in his neck stand out sharp and beautiful and Jesse didn’t even mind the sloshing all that much. He was soon placed on the sturdy laundry hamper near the bath and he took up his favorite spot on his rock. It was warm and smooth and he could curl into it.

Heat flushed down to the tip of his tail as Hanzo tested the water. His ass perfectly hugged by the thigh swimshorts and a nice fat bulge promised a treat fit to make his mouth water. He whistled and slapped his tail in the water to make his opinions known though it was lost on the man.

The water smelled good to Jesse and he found himself curiously swimming to the wall of his tank to look into the shimmery gold pool. A deep sniff brought the scent of magic to his nose and something sweet like honeysuckle.

“You got yourself a nice healing spell there, Darlin’,” Jesse murmured, glad that at least Hanzo was taking care of himself. He wished he could join him and lazily swim in the big tub and soak up the soothing energy the magic created.

Hanzo’s head tilted back, resting on a rolled up towel on the edge of the tub and sighed through sinfully parted lips. THe water lapped at his chest and up the smooth column of his throat. The bruises there began to shift from purple to green to yellow as the minutes ticked by and Jesse whined at being ignored for so long.

He slapped his hand on the glass and reached up to rattle the top until Hanzo cracked an eye to look at him.

“Hmm?” Hanzo shifted to cross his arms on the edge of the bath and rested his chin on them. “I do not know if it is safe for you to join me in the bath, Jesse.”

“C’mon, it’ll be fine.” Jesse wheedled, not really knowing how the curse would react to being dosed in a restorative potion. It would be worth it to beach himself on hanzo’s gorgeous chest and he crooned as loudly as he could.

Hanzo just shook his head and lay back in the soothing waters. His powerful legs draped along the far edge and Jesse watched transfixed as droplets ran down the hard curves of muscle and dripped into the water. He gulped and squirmed, longing for his true shape and to kiss each sparkling droplet and lick them up.

It was sweet torture to watch his master lounge in the water and each minute seemed far too long. Jesse hummed and pleaded in his jumbled voice to be allowed in and only stopped when Hanzo began to drain the tub.

He watched his chance to cuddle go down the drain and wearily flopped on the sand to pout. He turned his back on the man and curled himself into a ball. He had missed Hanzo and all he wanted was a little bit of petting and maybe an air kiss or a comforting stroke on his back. Was it really too much to ask?

He was too involved in his own thoughts to notice when the water turned back on and Hanzo rose from the tub. 

“Do not be mad at me, Jesse.”

The little creature looked up, ready with his best sulk only for it to turn into a laugh as he was picked up. Snuggling in, he rubbed his face aggressively on Hanzo’s fingers, kissing the rough skin. He tugged at the calluses with his teeth and licked up the salt and glimmering remains of the potion with excited chittering.

Hanzo eased them into the tub and Jesse was suspended in the water. Right against Hanzo’s bare breast and he wasted no time in trying to burrow into the soft skin.


	5. Chapter 5

Jesse hummed contentedly as he snuggled against Hanzo’s warm soft skin. It soothed some wild part of his psyche to be able to be close to another soul. He kissed the beginnings of the tattoo and ran his hands over the tail.

“This is really something beautiful, Darlin’,” Jesse praised, patting along the swirling clouds as he explored. Hanzo’s hand came to settle over him in a gentle cup. Not quite touching but a comforting presence.

“I swear you act as if you understand me.” Hanzo chuckled, the movement sending waves around the tub. Jesse let himself be sloshed with it, bumping into his master’s calloused palm.

“I do. I wish i could talk t’you proper like.”

“I have talked to The Witch but she refuses to tell me more of your story.” Hanzo drew a fingertip along his spine as he was gathered close to the man’s chest again. 

“She won’t. Not less you got something real special she wants.” Jesse rested his face against Hanzo’s breast, right over his heart. The thunder was calming, languid in the warm water and relaxed, it was hard to worry about anything.

It was the closest to human he’d felt since the curse had first drawn tight around his throat. He had lost track of how long he’d been imprisoned. There had been many masters before Hanzo and he shuddered at the memories of his time with them. 

The hunger rolled in his gut and his jaw ached. He wouldn’t hurt Hanzo, no matter what happened he would fight to keep the man safe.

“Are you alright, Jesse?”

The merman let his chin be tilted up, amazed at the tenderness of the gesture. Warmth flooded his chest, bubbling up and making him dizzy.

“Just peachy, Darlin’.” Jesse smiled widely and gave a lazy slap of his tail against the surface of the water.

  
  


Sinking lower in the water, Hanzo brought Jesse closer. Water sloshed across his mouth and tickled his nose. Everything still hurt and he was tired enough to fall asleep in the tub. His eyes wandered to the shelf of bathing supplies and an idea struck him. He reached up slowly to pluck a plastic bottle from the shelf. He wondered if he was being ridiculous as he lowered it into the water careful not to create a tsunami for his little pet.

“All creatures need to play, do they not?” He smiled to himself and nudged the bobbing bottle towards Jesse.

He seemed interested, swimming lazily over to it. It was about the size of Hanzo’s thumb. Hanzo waited with baited breath as Jesse pushed it under the water. The bottle bobbed and jumped out of his grip.

Hanzo snorted as Jesse squawked. The sound almost like a curse but Jesse took another go at it. His tail moved beautifully in the water like crimson silks billowing with his movement. Hanzo’s eyes followed the sway of his tail, the muscles rippling as he constantly shifted. 

Hanzo was content to watch, head resting on the tub as Jesse chased the slippery bottle. It clacked against the tub’s sides. The merman seemed to be talking to himself as he wrestled it. He rolled under the surface with a flash of his tail. The long spines brushed against Hanzo’s knees and he twitched a little.

“Careful, Jesse.”

The spines didn’t hurt exactly but it was a flash of danger that Hanzo had almost forgotten. Despite Jesse’s cuddly and sweet demeanor, there was a reason for the spells of binding and warding on his tank.

“What are you really?” Hanzo murmured as he slipped his hand over Jesse’s thick tail. He lifted the merman out to the water and brought him close.

Jesse answered with a long low chitter and a slap of his hand on Hanzo’s palm. It was easy to believe that there was intelligence looking back at him. Jesse’s eyes were clear and his smile achingly sad as he coiled up in Hanzo’s palm. The creature talked away, little broken cheeps that seemed strangely out of sync with Jesse’s gestures.

It didn’t match the actual shapes of his lips.

Hanzo didn’t want to think about what it would mean if he had a sentient being locked in an enchanted cage for weeks on end. If the Witch had known a person was wasting away in a filthy tank on her shelf without care.

He swallowed a hard knot in his throat and brought Jesse close to his face. The merman leaned forward with his weight supported on his good arm.

“Jesse, if you can understand me, nod twice.”

 

Jesse’s heart skipped a beat as he was lifted into the air. The annoying plastic bottle bobbed away toward the drain tauntingly and he swore that he would conquer it someday. He rolled to face Hanzo instead as water gushed down his body and tail. He wasn’t afraid to be so high but he would prefer to be put down now.

He slapped his tail and hugged into Hanzo’s thumb to anchor himself.

“Woah there darlin’,” he chuckled as he was pulled closer but his humor faded.

“Wish I could tell ya but that ain’t part of the deal.” He sighed, weariness hanging onto his broad shoulders. “She ain’t stole my voice but she took my words.”

Hanzo’s warm, dark brown eyes were clouded with worry and Jesse longed to pull him into his arms and rock away the anxieties. He could kiss his temples and tuck those fluffy white wings behind his ears to murmur words of care.

He pulled himself closer, wishing he still had his left arm. He wanted to reach out and touch Hanzo. Even if it was just to press his palm to his nose tip, the gap between them yawned wide.

So close, Hanzo’s words were a warm breeze against his tail and chest. He twitched at the intimate heat and curled his tail up and around himself.  _ Can i trust him? _ He bit his lip, gazing up at Hanzo.

He was so small, so vulnerable, and he had bet wrong in the past on the goodness of humans. And this human was a hunter, a killer of monsters and dangerous things and he was both. The hunger gnawed on his stomach even now, a need that would claw him open and destroy everything.

It had been so long since he had been himself.

Tears welled in his eyes and he tried to blink them away. He curled tighter around himself, half hiding behind the lurid red of his fins. Scars cut through the crimson in pale slashes and he hugged the ruin of his left arm against his chest.

“Please, Jesse. If you need help, I can help you,” Hanzo murmured as he offered his fingertip. “If you can understand me, just give me a sign.”

Jesse leaned into the tender touch on his shoulder and along the side of his head. He ached to believe and with a soft broken sound, he turned into the warm, callused skin. “Hanzo, darlin’, please help me.” He nodded against the hunter’s warm before looking up to those chocolate eyes.

He slowly nodded.

Once. 

Twice. 

 

-

 

Hanzo shuddered as he fought down a rolling wave of nausea.  _ It can’t be true, _ some small part of him shouted, denying what he had suspected. Jesse was not just a strange creature or fanciful creation of a bored sorcerer.

“Jesse…” Hanzo took a slow breath to get his thoughts under control. “Are you under a spell?”

The tiny merman nodded quickly though he didn’t lower his tail. It hid most of his form and he huddled back against Hanzo’s palm. He could feel the frantic pounding of his heart and each little shiver of fear.

“Are you cursed?” Hanzo clarified gently. 

Jesse nodded and a babble of noises poured out as he tried to explain before grabbing his throat. He gagged and curled forward, his tiny body heaved with coughing.

Panic lurked through Hanzo and he scrambled to do something. He ran his fingertips soothing along the man’s back, cradling him to his chest as if the closeness could help. His mind raced, jumping through the obstacle course of what ifs. 

“Don’t try to speak,” he huddled around Jesse, curling his body in protectively. 

There was nothing he could do as Jesse hacked and gagged, thrashing as a thick black ooze splattered over his palm. It shimmered darkly like scales of a monsterous deep sea beast before drifted into the bath water and dissolving.

Jesse went still in his palm, all the fight going out of him with one last drop of black ink.


	6. Chapter 6

Hanzo cradled Jesse to his chest, not trusting the man would be able to survive in the water. The ink spiraled in lazy swirls around his legs with a promise of malice. He rose as gently as he could from the water of the bath and shuddered as cold air hissed in around him.

The steam had faded some time ago and he hurried out of the bathroom and into his sleeping quarters. “Jesse?” he spoke softly, afraid of startling the man and yet he was left shifting from foot to foot.

The warding and binding symbols on the aquariums rim made his stomach clench with mistrust. Would the magic on the tank hurt or help jesse in his current state? He decided not to risk it.

“I’m going to put you down, just for a moment.” He ran a finger along Jesse’s back and shoulder. He felt cold and limp and the man hid his face behind his arm. “I will return with clean water as fast as I can.”

Hanzo settled Jesse on his own pillow and tried to pull his hand back. It hurt to see how Jesse clung to him with his good hand, eyes pleading and scared.  _ Please don’t leave me, _ the words were not spoken in a known language but Hanzo would know the look of desperation anywhere.

“I will return swiftly.”

He managed to tear himself away. Darting out of the room, he quickly took the stairs down to the kitchen. He fumbled with the cabinet doors, hands slick with sweat and shaking, but managed to get it open. He snatched the biggest bowl he could find. 

The pitcher lid rattled as he took the stairs back up. There was a tightness in his chest he had not felt outside of battle for years. If only he was fighting a marauding goyle or griffin, then he would know exactly how to proceed.

“Why did it have to be curses,” he smiled weakly at himself before pushing the door open and returning to his new partner.

 

Jesse shuddered against a draining chill that clung to him in the tiny particles of ink wedged against his scales. He gulped for air, the fine gills along his throat opening despite being out of water and he rolled on the satin pillow. 

It was like water below him, smooth and slick and he slide down to the comforter with a whimper. The witch’s grip was tight on his throat and it was if her talons were sinking into his flesh again.

He gasped and ripped at his overgrown hair. He ached in every cell for something to ground himself, to be held and seen and truly known. If only he could take his words back and call out to Hanzo and find solace in his arms.

Tears welled up and dripped down his cheeks. They would blend in with the rest of him soon enough and he tucked his face against his arm. His left throbbed as a bitter reminder of what came to small things that could not defend themselves and to the greedy hearts of men.

He could still taste their blood in his mouth and he fought down a roll of sickness. Hunger prickled at the back of his throat and he gulped it down. 

“I’m back,” Hanzo’s voice came through the door a second before the man. 

Jesse dashed his tears away on the back of his hairy arm. He wanted to trust Hanzo desperately and he couldn’t afford not to put more into him. It made it easier, to go limp and soft in his hand. He was carefully lowered into the bowl of lukewarm water with a soothing coo that might have been encouragement but the sound was white noise.

He rolled into the clean water and rubbed at his tail. The bits of magic clung tightly to his scales and he kept spinning as he tried to wipe himself down. An angry curse burst from his mouth in a flurry of bubbles and he lashed out.

His fins spread and the sharp spines hidden along his tail flared open. He couldn’t take care of himself even know, couldn’t even clean himself how was he ever going to take down a the Witch of the Waters.

“Jesse, can I help?” Hanzo’s finger in the water drew his attention and he looked up. Hanzo was leaning over the edge but not forcing the contact. 

It was a little thing. 

But it broke Jesse’s heart and put it back together again.

“Thanks, Darlin’,” Jesse’s voice was hoarsh and he swallowed to try to smooth it. Despite Hanzo not able to hear the words, he couldn’t stop himself from talking as always. He nodded when Hanzo asked the question again and laid back in the water. He floated along the surface, limbs heavy.

He closed his eyes, breathing in the calming scents of Hanzo’s bedroom. There was lavender and sage from drying bundles of herbs. Low, warm notes of earth and the tingling burn of lightning filled his chest as Hanzo leaned over him.

He squirmed as a hand cupped under his rump and back to support his human half. He rested his head into the crook of Hanzo’s thumb, too weary to offer much help. Tender fingertips trailed over his chest, swirling thoughtfully over the cut of his ribcage.

It tickled when Hanzo dipped to his belly and hips and he jerked with a chattering laugh. He shoved the fingertip away from his ticklish areas and Hanzo chuckled above him.

“Ticklish?”

Jesse quickly nodded, not minding the odd view above him. Hanzo’s proportions stretched with perspective as he leaned down till his nose was almost within reach. 

“I will try not to tickle you again,” Hanzo murmured, his breath warm and wet against Jesse’s tail. It soothed the edges of his nerves and he lazily undulated his tail. He wished Hanzo could hear him, could somehow see the need for more in his face.

Hanzo’s finger ran slowly down his hips where scales overtook his skin. Jesse sighed in relief as Hanzo rubbed small circles along the tired muscles. He raised the small fin there and Hanzo dutifully caressed over the spot with his fingertip. It was easy to relax and trust that Hanzo would care for him.

It was a slow process to clean him and Hanzo’s touch was hot against him. He squeezed his eyes shut at the reverent caress down his tail fin and along the spines. He shivered as the ink was washed away and dissolved into the water once it was free of him.

“Feels mighty nice,” Jesse sighed, boneless in the man’s hand.

“I hope that helped.”

Jesse nodded and managed a smile. He just wanted to curl up in a warm, soft bed and sleep in the protective arms of a loved one. He wearily dragged his tail up and around himself. He kept an eye on Hanzo, even as he was cupped in both hands and lifted gently from the water. He wriggled against the tight confines, finding the perfect spot.

-

 

“I will help you break the curse,” Hanzo murmured to Jesse. The man was so small and fragile in the cup of his hands, he felt the weight of caring for him settle heavily on his shoulders. They were broad and strong and he set his jaw as he looked to the future.

“I will talk to the Witch of the Waste. She can help us break the curse.”

Jesse made a shrill squawk and his spines prickled against Hanzo’s fingers. He jumped, barely keeping his grip around the man.

Worry settled on his brow. “Did the Witch of the Waste curse you, Jesse?”

A sharp shake of the head put that fear aside.

“Do you know who did?”

A quick nod.

“Do you know the terms of your curse?”

Another shake but slower this time. Hanzo chewed on the inside of his lip as he sorted through the encyclopedia of knowledge in his head. There were many creatures and magical users that could place a powerful curse on an unlucky victim. Or a deserving one. 

The tank’s powerful symbols of binding and warding flashed before his eyes. Had Jesse ended up inside because of the original curse giver or by people who had the misfortune to try to own him?

What fate had befallen his previous caretakers... 

  
  



	7. Chapter 7

Hanzo stayed until Jesse was asleep in the water. Little bubbles rose from the gills on the sides of his neck and popped quietly on the surface. He looked peaceful for once. The lines on his face smoothed out and his tail waving gently as he dreamed of better things.

Hanzo was loathed to wake him and move him back into the enchanted tank but he could not remain. The need to move tugged at his feet. A sickening anxiety gnawed at the back of his mind and he rose swiftly.

Once a decision was made, he could only follow through. His pack was by the front door and he threw it on after his jacket. The unicorn hair stitched into the lining sizzled quietly at the lingering presence of dark magic.

He smoothed the heavy canvas front before stepping out into the overcast day. Clouds crowded out the sun and a chill wind nipped at his heels. It drove him to his car and he shivered as he cast the ignition spell. 

A simple safety precaution that had proved valuable in the past. The engine rumble to life reluctantly but Hanzo didn’t give it time to warm up. He pulled off the curb and into the street as the first drops of rain splattered his windshield.

Drumming his fingertips on the steering wheel, Hanzo devoured the miles in great gulps of twisting roads and empty countryside. The Witch of the Waste would have answers for him. She would know more about Jesse.

_ How did she come into possession of him? _ Hanzo chewed his lip as he pulled off the highway and into the sprawling town. He would not find the witch in the glittering downtown or in the high society towers that pierced the sky.

The cobblestones under his feet were slick with rain and oil. It rolled in iridescent rainbows down the pitched slope and Hanzo followed it. Thunder rolled above and it reverberated in the tattoos racing up his left arm and down his right leg. A power that charged him and gripped tight around his lungs.

He coughed from the pressure as he turned down the alley. Antique and thrift stores slowly gave way to dingy bars and cluttered, jam packed apartments and tenements. The rain soaked clothes left out on the lines that criss crossed from one side to the other and a tattered paper planter drooped under its own weight.

The witch’s shop was easy to miss. Little more than a narrow doorway crushed between two leaning buildings. Wilted flowers sat on the tiny porch and their tiny thorns pricked at his clothes. There was no room to avoid them as he knocked. 

Seconds drew out as the rain fell on his head and soaked him through. He knew better than to knock again. Few made it out alive after trying to hurry a Witch.

A soft click behind the door was the only sign that he was welcome and he cautiously pushed his way in. It was much the same as the last time he had been there, overflowing and cluttered with magical paraphernalia.

The witch was behind the counter, bent over a massive ledger. Her quill scratched against the paper in a steady, unsettling beat. She did not look up as she spoke but the smile was clear in her voice. 

“I see you have returned already, Hanzo.” 

He stood straighter and slowly approached her. He had no protection against a witch as powerful as her but he had to know. He had to understand what had happened to Jesse.

“I have come to trade for information.”

She froze, quill hovering above the page and a fat drop of ink rolled down the nib and hung precariously. “How curious.” A twitch of her fingers and the quill disappeared.

Hanzo swallowed the knot in his throat as the Witch straightened. Her blue eyes flashed with something deadly as a dragon and she laced her fingers together. A tuft of her blond hair fell to cover half of her face, angelic in the way that curdled his stomach.

“Speak, Hunter.”

The words rose from his depths in a flood and crashed against his clenched teeth. He knew the witch’s old tricks and she laughed. It burned the air and the dragons crackled beneath his skin.

“I seek information about the creature I purchased some weeks ago from your shop.”

“Do you wish to return him already?” She tisked and her eyes flicked over him. “Ah, I see you have discovered Jesse’s situation.”

Hanzo fought down a wave of nausea as she held him in her gaze. The unicorn hair sewn into his jacket sizzled and crackled. “I know he is a sentient being that has been cursed.” 

“He is.”

Hanzo took a slow breath to center himself. “I wish to break his curse and return him to himself. How did you come into possession of him?”

 

\--

 

Jesse slept for hours in the bottom of the large bowl. Safe from the dreary day outside and the fearful dreams of the sea witch. His throat was raw from trying to communicate, trying to talk about the curse. 

He woke with a start as the sun dropped below the horizon. A deep, terrible hunger rolling in his stomach. It radiated through his body and sent shivers down his spine. He ground his teeth and rose to the surface of the water.

His long hair spread out around him, plastered down his face as he stalked the room. There was no movement. He was alone and free. The charmed tank was still in the bathroom and Hanzo had foolishly left him.

_ No, please not now, _ he squeezed his eyes closed. Horror bubbling up around him as the clock ticked towards midnight and Hanzo had not returned. Maybe he would not return until morning, wherever he had gone.

Jesse reached for the edge of the bowl, claws skittering on the glass. He tightened his grip and it gave under the pressure. Scales rippled along his back and spines began to grow from his skin. 

Agony broke along his flesh and his stomach shrunk tighter to his spine. He cried out for help, for something to eat. Anything to fill the void inside him that he could not fill in his past life. 

“Hanzo! Hanzo where are you?” he sobbed and hiccuped on the sound. He couldn’t lure the only kind person he had known to their deaths but it was too late already.

The bowl cracked and splintered under his growing weight. He lashed out and rolled in the water. Drops flew to the corners of the room and dran down the bedside table and he cried at the cruelness of the Witch’s curse.

His fate was sealed. Hanzo’s too.

 

-

 

Exhaustion was a dead weight on Hanzo’s shoulders as he let himself into his home. It was pitch black inside and out except for the occasional flash of lightning. The dragons were restless beneath his skin and he reeked of burned out wards.

The witch’s aura had destroyed each and every one of them in their long bargaining for information. Hanzo sighed, a deep bone rattling sound that left him slumped against the door. He had more questions than answers.

The small talisman nestled in his breast pocket might have been worth it in the end. The promise of being able to talk to Jesse had been too alluring to pass up. He touched the side of his right arm and shuddered. She had taken his blood as payment and the wound had not sealed.

He should change out the bloody bandage. He barely managed to push himself off the door and towards the stairs. He was still so tired from his battle with the dragon on his last mission and now this.

He managed to climb halfway to his bedroom before the noise penetrated the fog. The knife was instantly in his hand, razor sharp and shining in the moonlight cascading from the skylight. He moved quietly, heart in his throat. Whoever was in his bedroom would be near Jesse. He had left him alone and vulnerable.

_ What have I done. _

He crept to the landing, breathing slow and steady against the rolling anxiety. The dragons burned in his limbs, racing like storm clouds. He leaned forward to look past the open door. The room was lit fiantly by the moon, turning everything silver. 

The bowl was shattered and strewn around the room. Jesse was nowhere to be seen. Hanzo darted to the scene of the crime, ignoring the cut of glass against his feet and hands. “Jesse?” He ducked low to look under the bedside table, panic bubbling up like black ink inside his chest.

Every hair on his body stood straight up at a low, rumbling growl. It vibrated his blood and send shards of pain deep into his brain. An inhuman crooning joined it and Hanzo was paralyzed. He strained to force himself to turn his head and face the monster laying in wait under his bed.

The wards should have warned him. The spells could have helped him.

Sweat dripped from his temple and ran into his eye. He could hear his own breathing like a rattle, distant and disoriented.

The knife shook in his hand and he slowly turned to face what he didn’t want to believe. The monster lunged from the darkness in a flash of blood red scales. Hanzo threw up an arm just in time to block a swipe of claws aimed at his throat. The impact sent him flying across the room.

Knickknacks rained down around him. A jade teacup shattered next to his face. His vision went blurry. He blinked to try to clear it. It couldn’t end like this.

_ It’s your fault. _

_ You forgot to lock him up. _

Jesse’s eyes were glowing slits in the dark, half hidden by the wild tangle of his hair. Fangs pushed past his lips and jutted from his lower jaw. Scales flared around his eyes and down his neck and bare chest. 

“Beautiful.”

Everything went black.

 


	8. Chapter 8

The air was thick and humid in the small bedroom. The beast’s heaving breaths fogged up the windows in the dead of the night and there was little other sound than his growling. It bubbled up from deep inside the fetid pools in the man’s heart. It had gone black as the night rose with the ink from a cruel and uncaring Witch.

Jesse panted alone in the dark. Shudders wracked his body from the top of his head to the end of his tail fin as he hunched over the man’s body. Blood ran down his chest and dripped to the wood floor. It stuck to his hands and starving body. 

_ Hungry.  _

It ached. A knife in the gut that twisted hard and deeper with every passing second. He clawed at his concave middle before reaching out to touch Hanzo’s shoulder. He was warm and full of life and meat. He licked his lips.

Salt and bitter metallic burst over his long tongue. He lowered his mouth to his prey. The heat radiated against his skin, blurring the line between them. He wrapped his long tail around the man and coiled him tight. He seemed so small and frail now, head lulled to the side and body limp. 

Jesse licked along the sweet hot curve of his throat and set his teeth against the muscle. He would rip out his throat and fill himself finally. Finally he would be whole and full and the hunger would stop. 

_ But it’s Hanzo. _

The thought throbbed in his brain. This was not simple prey. This was… someone. He whined and lashed his tail. Hunger rushed over him, hot and burning and his claws dug into the man’s coat.

“Jesse…” the word croaked into the darkness and he jerked at the flash of humanity that shot through him.

Hanzo’s eyes were clouded but so deep and dark and warm like the hidden pools of his home far away and long ago. He brushed his thumb along the man’s sharp cheekbone to collect a single drop of saltwater. A tear for him or out of fear.

He tried to speak, mouth opening helplessly but they were jumbled on his vicious fangs. They overhung his lips and thrust forward to devour any and everything. He garbled helplessly even as he ripped Hanzo’s shirt open to expose the life giving flesh. Warm and rosy, he thrust his face against it, here would be so sweet and rich. 

A tender hand threaded through his hair and caressed over the spines of his ears. “I’m sorry, Jesse. I failed you after all.”

Jesse pulled back, dizzy and shaking as the space where his stomach should be curled tighter to his spine. He was starving and a sob broke from his mouth. He shriveled around the void inside him. 

Anything but to kill Hanzo, it was too great a horror even for a monster. He whined as memories of kind touches and soothing words. Hanzo had wanted to help him. Hanzo had treated him with care that he had never experienced under the curse. Hanzo with his sharp wit and soft smile.

A hunter that should kill monsters instead of care for them.

Tears fell from Jesse’s eyes. Little splashes that made Hanzo’s cheeks shine. Blue light reflected off Jesse’s scales and cast droplets of color over the walls. Something crackled beneath the surface of his jacket, at his arm and leg.

Jesse leaned close and touched his forehead to Hanzo’s as the energy built around them. IT was beautiful. The sound of lightning gathering in rain clouds and wind over waves grew and Jesse thought he smelled the sea.

His slitted eyes fell to a small shell held in tightly in the human’s fingers. The hand that held the knife closed around his throat. Jesse roared, mouth parting and widening to swallow the man whole.

 

-

 

The world swam around Hanzo as he stared up at the monster that had lived with him these last weeks. The light of the dragons shown on his face in electric blues but he held the creatures in check by a thread. Just a moment longer, waiting, hoping that there would be humanity in those slitted golden eyes.

It came just before the final blow and he could only pray for a chance to save himself and Jesse. He moved slowly while the creature scented him and licked at his throat and chest. Hot and cold from the thick long tongue and a cold clamminess of wet scales pressing against him.

The charm he had traded the Witch for was a burning coal in his pocket. A carved shell woven with bits of dried seaweed and polished coral, it was no larger than the nail on this thumb. A trivial bit of junk to the untrained eye but he had paid for it with something far more precious than gold or silver.

He waited, heart strangely calm as Jesse struggled against the curse. The gnawing hunger that would ravage him until the sun rose. The shell had been in the pocket of his jacket but now it was in his hand. Tucked up and hidden in the curl of his fingers until Jesse pressed himself tightly over the hunter.

_ They’re so soft. _ He barely registered his own surprise as his hand closed over Jesse’s neck. The gills were delicate and tender and he squeezed until his fingers slipped inside. Jesse’s roar rang in his ears, his bones, his blood but as his mouth gaped wide, Hanzo slapped his hand over it; along with the talisman imbued with the song of the sea itself.

Jesse reared back and Hanzo was tossed to the side by his heavy tail. He yelled as spines slashed his side and shoulder, raiding thin lines of red on his skin. The heavy jacket was in tatters. Hanzo vaguely mourned it’s loss as he dragged himself to his feet.

The merman wailed and thrashed. He clawed at his throat and chest before suddenly falling still. Slumped over half the bed, his face was awash in shadow. Hanzo’s heart thundered against his ribs and he thought one might be broken as he staggered out of the room. Down the stairs in a half standing pile, he added bruises to his collection.

He had been foolish. Incredibly so to think Jesse was only a victim of his curse. Or was the curse what drove him to violence? He thumped into the fridge and ripped the door open. There was a whole salmon marinating in soy. He dragged it dripping back to his room. The carpet would forgive him in time or he would remove it. 

The eyes stared back at him, hollow and pale.

Hanzo’s knees shook as he came to the open door and only the dragons gave him the strength to stay standing. “Jesse?” He called softly, afraid of spurring another attack. The merman slowly rolled over in the bed, his thick brown chest rising and falling with a rattle. His eyes were all black and sunk far into his face. His nose rose in a proud arch and his teeth flashed.

Everything within the man suddenly pointed at the fish in Hanzo’s hand. Like a bloodhound, Jesse’s body tensed to spring on it’s prey. Hanzo threw it underhanded to the man and looked away as he fell upon it.

Hanzo looked away. Wet squelching and the crunching of bones made him shudder as he slowly sank to the floor. The open door promised a chance to escape but he was too tired to run again. The dragons would defend him if nothing else but they were curled around his limbs. Their purring sent soothing vibrations through his arm and leg and he let his head lull back against the wall.

The sounds of feeding slowly died out and the room stilled with only heavy breathes. Hanzo managed to open his eyes, afraid of what he might see. 

“Jesse?” he shot up at the absence of a massive merman.

He scrambled forward to the remains of the fish and ducked to peer under the bed but Jesse was nowhere to be seen. “Jesse?” he called out, panic rising fiercer than when the merman had been charging straight at him.

A tiny squeak froze him in place.

He slowly looked to the surface of his bed. In the mess of dirty sheets and blankets there was something. A flash of pretty shiny red and speckles of gold in the moonlight led him closer till he was half on the bed.

A warm, sunkissed voice rose from the folds and Hanzo’s breath hitched with relief.

“Hey there, Darlin’,” Jesse waved his good arm in greeting. “Sorry… for all that.”

 


	9. Chapter 9

“I’m so sorry, Darlin,” Jesse fought back tears at the sight of the damage he’d done to Hanzo. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. Shit, I never meant t’hurt you like that.” He was exhausted but relieved with his belly bulging. The curse was satisfied for the night and he breathed easier.

“I know, Jesse.”

The merman’s fins fanned out instinctively and he barely dared to hope. “You can understand me?”

“The shell held the song of the sea, it gave your voice back,” Hanzo murmured and lowered himself to the bed. He pulled a glowing golden packet from the bedside table drawer and settled it on his ribs.

Jesse smiled as his Hanzo curled up and he was left surrounded by the hunter’s body. It radiated warmth and soothed his spirit. He wriggled and pushed himself over the waves of blankets to nudge against Hanzo’s bare arm. 

The tattered jacket was abandoned on the floor. The thin slices he’d left on the Hanzo’s chest weeped a thin trail of blood. He’d been so lucky to not fully rip him open, just a scratch. He leaned up to brush a fingertip through the warm liquid.

“Not a vampire too, are you?” Hanzo’s chuckle bounced him and he was quick to burrow back in. 

“Nah, but you smell might good.” he nosed in till he could plant his fact in the shelter of the man’s pec. The thick muscle provided a nice place to wriggle in and he helped himself to it without thinking.

Hanzo’s nipple was right at his shoulder and he casually reached out to stroke it. He had wanted to since he’d first seen it. Such a pretty dusky pink, it just couldn’t help himself.

“What are you doing?”

Jesse guiltily slunk down and huffed. “Forgot you know now.” He pouted as Hanzo rolled onto his back instead. He was plucked up and sat in the trench between Hanzo’s thickly muscled chest. 

He was quick to make himself comfortable with his body laid out straight and tail carefully flat to avoid accidentally pricking his bed. It put him on the level fo Hanzo’s face now that he was pillowed up. 

A blush rose on Jesse’s cheeks the longer he stared and his well of words seemed to dry up suddenly.

“Is this alright?” Hanzo’s voice was low and rough.

Jesse glanced to the side where Hanzo’s hand hovered near his tail. “Sure thing, Darlin’. Just be careful not t’hurt yourself. Wish I could do something to patch you up.”

“I will be fine.” 

Jesse nodded but the worry lingered. The guilt of what he had done and almost done. What if he had lost the last shred of his humanity. What if he had eaten Hanzo in the midst of his crazed hunger?

The anxiety melted away as Hanzo’s hand settled gently over him. The light press of fingers along his back and tail anchored him to the moment. It was going to be okay. He couldn’t believe he could speak after so long and that Hanzo could hear him. The curse still held sway on him but he was not so terribly alone.

“How’d you get that shell that made me be able to talk?” Jesse rested his head on his crossed arms, enjoying the skin to skin contact. It made him hunger in a different way than before.

“I went to the Witch of the Waste.” Each word rumbled beneath Jesse, vibrating pleasingly along his body and making his fins shimmer. “I made a bargain.”

“She the one that was keeping me in the shop?” Jesse tried to keep the sullen tone from his voice and yet it bubbled up. She was not the one that had cursed him but she had not helped him any either.

“Yes.” 

Jesse opened his mouth before Hanzo’s fingertip brushed down his rump and down to his tail tips. Heat rose to his face and neck and he decided it was better to just rest and appreciate the chance at another day.

 

-

 

“You wear that apron mighty well, Han.”

Hanzo glanced down at his merman companion as he made them breakfast. His new friend lounged in a epsom salt bath in a luxuriously large bowl at his elbow. The transformation had put a strang on him and his scales had started to flake off in spot.

The bath would help and he had already taken his own. He set the tea kettle on the burner before turning back to skillet. The pancake was thick and fluff and perfectly golden brown. He used to make them for Genji back when things were simpler. 

“You are quite the flirt.” He pointed out as he flipped a pancake and took a moment to nudge a sausage link. He tried to pretend the blush on his cheeks was from the heat of the stove. 

“Can’t rightly help it with a handsome fella like you around.”

“Where you always this way or has your imprisonment in diminutive form made you so?” He shot back but it was with a smile.

“I dont rightly remember.”

“Has your memory been affect?” Hanzo moved to grab syrup and some fresh fruit. The little container of raspberries seemed particularly appealing and he set it on the counter.

“Can I have one?” Jesse pointed excitedly to the red berry and slapped his tail against the water.

“Of course.” hanzo held back the giddiness in his chest as he carefully pinched a raspberry between his fingers and offered it to the merman.

It was as big as his head.

It took a bit of nudging and fiddling but he managed to pass it to the little man who gathered it into his one good arm. Without shame, Jesse lowered his face and took a massive bit. HIs cheeks smooshed into the plump red buds of the fruit with gusto.

Hanzo raised a brow but had the decency to look away after a moment and let Jesse savor his treat in peace. It wasn’t long before the sounds of eating died down and Hanzo glanced over. Jesse had his biggest smile on his face and his eyes were soft and warm.

“That’s the first piece of fruit i’ve had in ages.” The merman wiped his face on his arm before leaning down and dunking his head below the surface. Gurgles and bubbles flurried around his tiny features and Hanzo could only laugh and go to fetch more treats.

 

-

 

“Is it to your liking?”

Jesse stared in awe at the flourishing garden at the back of Hanzo’s cottage. “Is this really all yours?” He hauled himself up on the edge of the small bowl Hanzo cradled in his arm. 

“It is my small piece of home.” 

Jesse nodded along, storing the information for another time. He couldn’t decide where to look first. The beautiful little pavillion was painted in a soulful red with golden accents or perhaps it was best to fall in love with the mossy knolls spreading from cherry tree to cherry tree. It had to be the water feature though, coming into view as his companion lifted him higher.

“It’s damn beautiful.” He couldn’t stop his tail from wagging in the water, splashing and wriggling at the site of a small waterfall. Though he knew it was not a real one he longed to go down the eight foot tall trail of rock and water.

“I will set you by the edge.” Hanzo carried him to the nearest pond and settled into a cross legged position. Jesse clutched the edge of the bowl as he was placed in the nest created in Hanzo’s lap.

“Can’t i go in the water?”

Jesse longed to feel the running water on his skin. It wasn’t as nice as the ocean but he was whining low in his throat before he knew it.

“I don’t know if that is safe.” Hanzo pointed to the fat koi slowly swimming through the fronds and lily pads.

“I can handle myself, darlin’,” Jesse pleaded, aching to claw his way out of the tank and over the stones to drop in himself. “Promise those little fillies won’t cause me no harm.”

He could see the uncertainty in Hanzo’s dark eyes and the tension around his pretty mouth. “C’mon, you’ll be right here. You can even put your feet in and i’ll stay within arm reach.”

“I have not stuck my feet into the pond since i was a child.”

“Please, Hanzo… Just a few minutes of freedom. It’s been so long since I was able to swim in moving water.”

Hanzo closed his eyes with a sigh but his lips curled up into a smile. 

“Very well.”


	10. Chapter 10

Jesse grinned up at the hunter, giddy with excitement. “Put me in, Darlin.” He didn’t wait long as Hanzo lifted the clear bowl and lowered it into the water. Jesse wriggled to push the front of his body over the edge and lowered his arms down into the clear pond.

A massive koi swam by with a lazy flick of it’s tail and Jesse waved hello. He didn’t speak koi himself but he knew how to handle a fish or two. He spared a glance up at Hanzo. “I’ll be fine. Dontcha worry.”

“I will try not too, my little friend.” Hanzo submerged the bowl and Jesse zipped past the edge and out into the free water. His heart surged and he dove into the murky depths and wove through the lilly pad roots and fronds. The water churned through his gills in a wonderful flurry of bubbles and bits of natural debris.

A tiny minnow flicked past and he whipped around to chase it. He was not hunger but the thrill sent his blood on fire. He chased it around the pond, grabbign it with his good hand before letting it go.

He was distracted when Hanzo’s long, skinny feet broke the surface of the water. He zipped over to investigate, tentatively touching his cute toes. It made Hanzo twitch and Jesse heard the laugh through the water. He rose up to pop his head out with a wicked grin.

“You ticklish, Hanzo?”

“I was merely startled. Are you enjoying yourself?”

Jesse nodded quickly before diving down again. Hanzo’s feet were pale in the sunlight and he slide his body along the top. Trailing over the tendons here his toes, he noticed the minnow was back. The little slip of silver started nibbling and biting at the skin to eat the dead skin and salt.

Jesse pouted and reached over to push it away. He didn’t want any fish edging in on his terrirotiry. He wasn’t a cleaner breed but he had his standards. He cuddled up to Hanzo’s delciate ankle and rubbed his face against the smooth skin. He liked the prickle of hairs on his chest as he tightly circled the limb. He waved his tail excitedly before darting to the other leg to continue his examinaiton.

It was a very nice leg. He rather liked it and the view up Hanzo’s legs to his knees. They were slightly parted, the rim of the pond hit him mid thigh. Jesse popped up with ap owerful swish of his tail and managed to grab the edge.

“Hey there,” He smirked up at Hanzo from between his legs. “Imagine finding a man like you in a place like this.”

“I believe I should be saying that.” Hanzo rolled his eyes and Jesse was rewarded with a tender brush of his fingertip along his shoulder. “Do you wish to continue?”

“Ain’t getting me out of here anytime soon.” Jesse quickly pushed off the edge and disappeared into the water with a wide smile. He kept close to Hanzo for the man’s sake though there was a flicker of fear in his chest.

He swam a little crooked still and his missing arm made sharp turns difficult. He was giddy though as he raced from one end of the pond to the other. Stretching his tail for the first time in what felt like years, he explored from one end to the other and curiously nudged at the pipe that took water to the top of the waterfall.

It had a grate that would keep him from getting sucked in but he would love to take a ride down the slide like feature. He sighed and headed back to Hanzo only to find his legs were gone. Panic cracked through him and he froze in the water.

“Hanzo?” the words bubbled away to pop helplessly.

A koi brushed passed him and he was spun in it’s wake. He pushed against the slimey side and headed away. Another brushed past his tail sending him into a tailspin. He tumbled and ended up grabbing onto the first thing he could. It was a fat koi with a pretty splotchy pattern. He held on as the fish took him lazily around the pond in search for a bug.

He began to relax at the familiar sensation of being close to a bigger and fully fish creature. Used the fish to return to the end where Hanzo had been and lifted himself clear of the water. He dragged himself to the sun warmed stone and rolled to his back with a sigh of relief.

 

-

 

“Enjoying yourself?” Hanzo chuckled as he returned from the house to see Jesse engrossed in sunning himself. He fanned his tail fin back and forth in a alluring display, something he would have expected from a peacock other than a fish.

“Sure am, Darlin’. Once I got over the shock of seeing you’d disappeared so suddenly.”

A twinge of guilt went through Hanzo and he quickly settled next to the merman. He offered the small plate of tuna, salmon and crab and took a piece of sushi for himself.

“That for me?” Jesse was already pulling himself half onto the plate. He sniffed at one pile of flesh to the other, a lovely blush forming on his cheeks and rolling down to his chest.

“I thought you would perhaps be hungry after your extended swim.”

Hanzo smiled as his companion began to nibble on the crab. He seemed less frenzied in his feeding now that he had speech. It might have been a perception only but Hanzo hoped he was part of the reason.

“Do you wish to return to the pond after lunch?” He asked quietly as he sipped a small mug of tea. He was ignoring the steady buzz of his cellphone from his pocket. He had already turned down several calls while making their little spread.

“Might go find me a cozy little nook in the rocks nad maybe take a nap.” Jesse wriggled around and his tail made wet little plopping sounds on the plate.

Hanzo offered his finger to hold onto and lifted the tiny man closer to him. Jesse quickly pressed his back to Hanzo’s thigh with his tail curled around him.

Hanzo lifted his gaze to the distance, turning over his words carefully. His phone buzzed again and he reached into turn it off with a click. “Will you feel safe in the pond if I leave? There is a job nearby that demands my presence. Today if possible.”

“Ain’t you still healing from…”

Hanzo swallowed, not wanting to open fresh wounds. “I will return before dark.”

“What if you…”  Hanzo watched the merman’s face fall and all the joy crumble and fall away. “I’m going back in the tank.”

Hanzo chewed his lip and his eyes filtered around the garden. The walls were high and sturdy and there was only one gate to the sleepy street. It was made of iron, the type that burned magical beings.

 _Could he stay here?_ He considered the tiny merman, remembering all too clearly the towering bulk of muscle and teeth that had appeared last night. Would Jesse in his true form be able to scale the walls in search of food or would he simple devour al the koi in the pond. Could he fed Jesse to bursting and keep away the curse’s hunger?

“We will find a cure for your curse, Jesse.”

“I wish you would darlin’,” Jesse’s faint weight leaned into his thigh and Hanzo lowered his hand to cup around him. “I’d love t’be myself, shake this tail off and go for a stroll. Maybe climb up and get a good look at the world again.”

Hanzo gulped as his face heated and he carefully avoided blurting out his question. “You… can appear human?”

“‘Course I can. What merman can’t walk on solid ground when he wants? Witch was cruel when she made me small and locked me in this shape.”

Hanzo nodded along as if it fit the limited knowledge he or anyone had about merpeople. He would have to update his notebooks and forum posts when he could. _He can be human._ Hanzo swallowed at the thought of what Jesse would look like.

Long strong legs would compliment the sturdy heft of his shoulders. He would fill out once the curse was broken, once the hunger was finally sated and Jesse would be at peace.

_Does he have a dick?_

 ---

Like this story? It's crowdfunded on [Ko-fi.com](ko-fi.com/batkatbrown)! 


	11. Chapter 11

The waves crashed around Hanzo’s boots, sweeping away the scarlet of his latest mission. It had not taken long. He was a professional hunter and the nest of drowners was easily enough to clear. The mix of worries that haunted him was not.

Hanzo reached down and fished in the cold water for his arrowhead. He had collected half of his quiver already but it did not do to waste resources. Fingers going numb, he managed to pull part of an arrow from the thick sands before it was lost forever.

The sea no longer seemed a place of safety and comfort.

Hanzo finished his hunt and left the beach after disposing of the monster’s bodies. The smoke of a cleansing spell rose behind him and trailed away in the afternoon’s breeze. Sunlight glanced off the waves and Hanzo narrowed his eyes as he climbed up the cliff above the coast. Handholds that others would not dare to try, he used with confidence and ease.

There was little he could not climb when he put his mind too it. Even with stiff fingers from the cold, he soon reached the crest. He turned at the top and settled into a seiza facing the water.

Somewhere in the shimmering depths, the secret to Jesse’s curse lay. Small pricks laced the horizon that hinted at little islands and sandbars. The witch could make a breathing potion. He chewed the inside of his cheek as his stomach rolled. He already owed her too much and with terms too vague for his liking.

He could make one himself but it would take time to gather the raw ingredients. He would need to find a proper grimoire to refresh himself on the incantations. His hand fell to one of several small pouches on his belt. The leather was warm from the sun and the magic that hummed through it.

It protected him from the acidic nature of drowner blood in the harvested claws. He would need them if he dared to try to create a spell powerful enough to grant him access to the dark recesses of the sea.

Footsteps far to his right raised Hanzo from his thoughts and he waited patiently till his contact stopped at his side. “I have completed the contract from the Whitehill Village.”

“You certainly have. We cannot thank you enough for your swift help.” The village elder knelt on her knees beside them. Her robe was worn thin but had once been regal. A pattern of waves was faded on the hem.

“You will recover the shipment.”

“Yes. Some will have been ruined by the water but most should be salvageable. We can pay you once the chests are dragged up. Our local divers are eager to get back in the water now that it is safe.”

Hanzo nodded, gaze lingering on the horizon. “This is our arrangement.” He hesitated, weighing what he knew of the woman and the village. “May I ask a question of you. Of a sensitive nature.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her weathered face crinkle with amusement. “We are old enough friends to venture into these waters.” She pulled out a small wax paper bag and offered the contents to him.

He gratefully took a bit of taffy and popped it into his mouth. It gave him an excuse to stall as he chewed and consider his words. Once the sweet was gone, he faced Lydia completely. The sea glass woven into her hair glimmered in the sun.

“Have you ever seen merpeople along this coast?”

“You know I have.” Her laugh was like the spattering of raindrops. “Once upon a time, they were common here. As common as they are anywhere before man colonized the beaches.”

“Do you know where they live in the sea?”

“The only way to find them, is to know someone that has already been there.”

-

Jesse splashed through the koi pond with a small herd of the golden fish following along. “That’s a good little filly,” He praised a small koi that was trying her best to stay at his side. He rubbed her scales above her eye where he just knew it must itch.

She glupped at him and slide across his side. He affectionately pet her back as she went by and the school rose to investigate a bug with unfortunate timing. He was proud of them. It had only taken a few hours and the rest of the food Hanzo had set out to get them to behave.

They weren’t dolphins or sharks, that was for sure, but he was glad to have a bit of familiarity. Would his little Bessie remember him if he ever made it home? He fought off a wave of sadness at thoughts of his life among the vibrant ocean hunting and fighting and chasing adventure at every turn.

That’s what got me into this mess, he sighed in a flurry of bubbles and sent the school of koi on their way. He would work more with them later if he got the chance. He just hoped he didn’t end up eating them all if the curse struck before Hanzo got home.

He swam from one end of the pond to the other, an eye on the sun the whole time. The fading rays turned the water orange and his heart began to thunder.

It didn’t last long as the back gate squeaked and Jesse darted over to look. “Hanzo, darlin!” Jesse waved excitedly to see Hanzo stepping through. He raised a hand and waved back and a smile rose to scrunch his cheeks. It was more beautiful than the sunset over the ocean on its best day.

“I have some good news.” Hanzo trotted over, instrument case bouncing slightly on his back. “Let us talk over dinner.”

“I’d love that, got a might bit of hunger going.” Jesse swam to the edge closest to Hanzo and didn’t resist when he was scooped up. He wriggled his rump into the middle of his palm and slung his good arm around Hanzo’s thumb. “What are we gonna eat for dinner?”

“Have you tired of salmon already?” Hanzo chuckled and cupped the merman tight to his chest. Jesse took the time to rub himself against the little vee of skin that peeked out beneath his shirt. It was warm and soft and he planted little kisses against it. It tasted like the sea, salt and brine and something spicy from what he had eaten for lunch.

“I was thinking maybe something with pasta?” Jesse licked his lips. “I used t’come on shore all the time t’get a big bowl of noodles.”

“Truly?”

“Wouldn’t lie to you, sweetheart.” Jesse blinked to adjust his eyes as they passed into the darkness of the house. Hanzo quickly turned the lights on and carried him through the house to the kitchen. Jesse pointed to the sink next to the stove. “I can swim there while you cook. I like t’see you working your magic.”

“Very well.” Hanzo filled the sink with lukewarm water and Jesse was happy to dive in. He splashed and wriggled to clean the pond water off. A few scales fluttered off and fell to the bottom of the sink. He frowned at them and absence scratched the patches on his shoulders. The shifting had strained his body and he’d be shedding for a while.

It poked at the vain streak that had been growing since living with Hanzo. He fusted with his hair as he rose above the surface and crossed his arms on the ledge. He rested his chin on it and studied Hanzo.

“I will make ramen tonight. If it is agreeable.”

“Ramen? I think I had something like that once. When i was roaming around Japan as a young buck.” He sniffed excitedly at the onions, garlic and spices Hanzo set out on the counter. “Oooh, can you put an egg in mine? I remember the eggs. Big pretty golden yolks.”

“I will put an egg in yours.” Hanzo chuckled and leaned down. His beautiful brown eyes crinkled in the corners and Jesse lifted himself higher from the water. “It will be as big as your head at least.”

“You’re making me drool,” Jesse waggled his eyebrows and cast his eyes over the hunter. Strong, sturdy shoulders shook with his laugh and a fingertip was pressed to Jesse’s chest. He leaned down to kiss the top and added a nibble for good measure in case Hanzo couldn’t feel it.

“It is a good thing you are so small. Or your fangs would be quite painful.” Hanzo teased with a flash of a smile as he started adding things to the pots on the stove.

“Oh darlin’,” Jesse preened, flashing his tail in slow undulating movements. “They can feel mighty nice, or so i’m told.”

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Big thanks to Anon, Belqoak, and Firefly who helped crowdfund this chapter on my ko-fi!

Hanzo chuckled at the merman’s flirting and carefully patted the top of his head. “You are a shameless flirt.”

“Tell me somethin’ I don’t know, Darlin’,” Jesse rumbled with far more pride than a small merman should.

Hanzo couldn’t help the blush rising to his cheeks so he quickly looked away. The ramen was well underway and would fill them both up and then some. He stirred the broth and tried not to flirt back. 

He failed.

“Hunters have tough skin.” He swirled the spoon in the pot before looking down at Jesse. 

“Do they now?” Jesse smirked like a little devil and pushed his wet hair out of his face. “I’ll have t’test out your claim sometime.”

Hanzo shook his head and left to hide his red face while he fetched the eggs. The coldbox was refreshing on his skin and he lingered longer than he needed to. A talking Jesse would take some getting used to.

“Do you wish to eat in the garden?” he called over his shoulder before finally returning to the stove.

“I’d love that.”

Soon enough Hanzo had finished his work at the stove and filled two massive bowls with noodles, vegetables and meat. He cracked the egg into Jesse’s and set it next to his on a serving tray. Jesse settled on the smooth wood with his tail wrapped around his bowl. 

Hanzo stepped carefully to take his precious burden in to the dusky garden. Soft chirps from nesting birds fluttered around them and the soft rustle of the grass was a low melody. The wind chime sang as a gentle breeze moved through the compound.

They settled at the small table in the middle of a gravel circle. Hanzo took his seat on the cushion and Jesse opted to stay on the tray.

“Wish i could see more of your pretty face,” Jesse sighed, one arm stuck into the bowl to catch a noodle.

“You are rather small down there.”

“You ain’t teasin’ a man, now are you?” Jesse shot him a disgruntled look. Or so Hanzo thought. It was difficult to read the man’s expression without him held close to his face. He looked at their bowls and Jesse valiantly trying to drag his food over.

The idea shot a tingling buzz through his veins and he slowly lowered his chopsticks. “Perhaps, if you were willing…” Hanzo waited for Jesse to look up at him. The fading sunlight turned his scales to rippling gold. “You could join me for dinner up here.”

 

-

 

Jesse paused with a chunk of beef half way to his mouth. He slowly set it back into the broth as he studied Hanzo’s face. From this angle the expression was a little skewed but it was as warm and soft as ever.

“What do you mean?” He wriggled his tail to half perch on the mass. He leaned on the bowl’s rim to keep himself upright and to soak up it’s heat. The beating of his heart was loud in his ears.

“I do not wish to assume… but perhaps you would like to share my bowl.” Hanzo raised it to the level of his mouth in example before setting it gently back on the tray. “Then we would be on the same level to converse properly and I could send any unruly noodles your direction.”

Heat moved up Jesse’s neck and to his face and he had to gulp to keep the pain in his throat from turning to tears. He hadn’t been treated like a human, like a person, in so long. Even if it was in such a strange fashion, he was overwhelmed for a moment.

He tailed his hand through the broth in his bowl and brought it to his lips. He licked the digits clean, judging the salinity and heat. It wouldn't hurt him to be submerged in it and he could eat much easier.

_ He could gulp you down like one of these noodles, _ a small paranoid part of his brain was quick to supply.  _ He could ‘gulp’ you down too, _ the other far louder part replied and Jesse fought back a groan.

It had been so long since he’d felt anything like desire.

He pushed those feelings aside as quickly as he could. It wouldn’t do to start thinking Hanzo’s flirting was anything but camaraderie between two people in a very strange situation. It didn’t help that Jesse had seen him naked already. The images flashed before his eyes as he studied his reflection in the broth. Hanzo casually stripping to prepare to share a bath with him. The heft of his sturdy ass and powerful back rippling, the rippling tattoo that seemed to dance like an ocean’s wave on his arm and leg - all of it made him drool.

He shook his head, shame filtering in and he hugged himself tighter to the bowl to obscure his body. He focused on the pretty way the sunset danced on flowers along the pond and the plaintive violet shadows stretching out from the wall.

“I see I have overstepped.” Hanzo’s voice was painfully polite and Jesse jerked up to look at him.  “My apologies--”

“Yes!”

Hanzo’s eyes widened and then a bashful smile pushed at the edges of his mouth. “Only if you are not inconvenienced by it.”

“Not at all,” Jesse used the edge of the bowl to pull himself closer to Hanzo. He wobbled on his tail before falling forward onto his good hand. He wriggled to try to make his way over but hanzo spared him more embarrassment.

He savored the warmth of Hanzo’s fingers as the cupped around him. One under his chest, brushing lightly over the muscle and sinew, the other hooked around his middle and the third curled under his hips. He jerked, tail waving frantically for a beat. The touch sent ripples of heat through him and he broke free of Hanzo’s grip as soon as he was over the bowl.

He fell with a small splash into the broth and darted into the depths. His second eyelid protected him as he wriggled through the noodles and popped up in the middle.

Hanzo laughed to see him and poked him light in the chest with a chopstick. “You should be more careful. I feared you’d break your neck diving in like that.”

Jesse just playfully chomped at the end of the chopstick before scooping up a noodle. It was much easier inside the stangle and he shoved the fist sized pasta into his mouth. He relaxed his jaw with a conscious effort and the noodle glided into his throat. He gulped and slurped with only the occasional pause to snap his teeth through a section.

He lost himself in the fragrant meal, only showing off a little as he ate as much as Hanzo did. His own bowl of ramen dumped into Hanzo’s after a few minutes and he was quick to shove his hand into the soft yolk and lick it clean until it was all gone.

“I do not think so,” Hanzo barked and Jesse wriggled as he was caught between the chopsticks with the last bit of beef in his hand. “That one’s mine.”

“Fight me for it.” Jesse challenged with a playful wink. He wriggled his hips, trying to break out of the chopstick’s grip. It was tight enough to imprison him but not to hurt. He still grumbled and complained as he was lifted out of the bowl and held close to Hanzo’s eyes.

“You get the egg. I get the beef.”

Hanzo’s breath was hot and humid against his tail and he flushed under the inspection. He waved the meat teasingly and a drop of the broth fell with a splash to Hanzo’s nose. He crinkled it and went crossed eyed to look.

A laugh burst out of Jesse’s chest and he tried to stifle it with his left bicep. He didn’t in time and Hanzo narrowed his eyes at him. “You did that on purpose.”

“Maybe.” Jesse managed to get a hold of his breath. Tears prickled in the corners of his eyes and he wiped them on his arm. “You’re too cute when you get all cross eyed.”

“I am not cute.” Hanzo leaned in closer. “You are the one that is being cute.”

“I’m a rugged, handsome fella,” Jesse preened, showing off the strength of his chest and the breadth of his shoulders.

“Cute.” Hanzo hummed the word and closed the distance between them.

All the air left Jesse’s lungs in a soft ‘oh’ and his hand fell to the proud crest of Hanzo’s nose. The tip brushed lightly against his stomach and a giddy laugh bubbled up and overflowed. Time seemed to slow as Jesse ran his hand down the length of Hanzo’s nose and hesitantly petted the strong slopes to his cheek.

“You’re the best man I’ve ever met, Han.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Anari, Ryen and Anons that sponsored this chapter! <3

Hanzo’s heart stuttered and burst to a gallop as Jesse leaned into his nosetip. He nudged into Jesse’s stomach and nuzzled up his chest to bump lightly against Jesse’s shoulder. “You are a flirt and a flatterer.”

“No,” Jesse’s hand smacked his nose and Hanzo blinked at the slight sting. “I am being serious, Hanzo. I ain’t ever met anyone like you, not when I was myself and not since I was cursed.”

“I have never met a person so curious,” Hanzo chuckled, low and soft in the back of his throat. He nuzzled into the soft skin of Jesse’s belly. He smelled like the rich broth and Hanzo licked his lips. “Tell me more about where you came from Jesse.”

A radiant smile lit up Jesse’s face and he leaned in to rest his arms on Hanzo’s nose. Hanzo let himself go slightly cross eyed to bring him into focus before slowly sinking to rest on his side. The cushion made a decent pillow and he eased Jesse onto it so they could lay side by side.

“I was an adventurer, and a wild man. Proper shark of a merman.” Jesse waved his good arm excitedly. “I had a little bit of reef to myself, just a nice little place to go to ground when I messed with the wrong guppy. I had a few sharks there, really friendly and just always happy t’bunt their soft noses against my hand.”

Hanzo nodded along, dripping his fingers along the subtle curve of jesse’s side and down his tail. “I imagine you were my size, at that time.”

“Hard t’judge but--” Jesse flashed a mouth full of sharp teeth “--I bet I’d be quite a bit bigger than you, Darlin’.”

A spike of something raw and hunger flashed through him and his toes curled at the thought. When the curse had overtaken Jesse, he had been massive. Hanzo had not had the luxury of studying him in the fight.

“What witch did you offend to get yourself shrunk so far?” hanzo teased, tapping his fingertip against the swell of Jesse’s hip.

“Hard t’talk about it directly.” Jesse gulped loudly and rolled his tail up to cast himself in shade under his fin. “But… uh… mighta pissed off a witch with eight wiggly legs.”

_ Octopus Witch? _ Hanzo considered what he knew of the fabled race of merpeople and shuddered. He could only hope they were exaggerated. 

 

-

 

Jesse sighed wearily inside his enchanted tank. The seals kept him small and contained and the piles of food held off the consuming hunger. He pulled his tail up and rested his arm around it as he watched Hanzo sleep.

The hunter’s face was peaceful and relaxed as he dreamed. Jesse imagined swimming through sunlight waves with him. He could twirl him in the water and kiss flurries of bubbles against his stomach and chest.

Hanzo’s tail would be a perfect shimmery blue with golden scales littered down the sides. He’d have glittering scales on his cheeks and scattered over his shoulders. How glorious he would be with his hair free and flowing around him in captivaging undulations.

Jesse closed his eyes, giving in to the dream. Hunting together among the reef with spears or nets in tandem to bring down tasty fish or bigger game. He could show Hanzo how to pull pearls from clams and catch pufferfish like dolphins to spiral higher and higher on the stimulant.

THey would have a nice little cave with many shelves of pretty sparkly things. Jesse would show Hanzo the divet he’d worn into the rock and lined with living mosses and gently waving sea fronds.

He could curl around his smaller lover and kiss Hanzo’s neck till he was breathless and squirming. 

Jesse’s thoughts stuttered out and he furtively glanced to Hanzo’s sleeping form. It was foolish to dream he might convince Hanzo to join him.

_ Would he ask me to stay? _

Jesse turned away and dove down to his hiding spot. He wedged himself in tight as something stung in his eyes. When his curse was broken, if it could be broken, he would have to say goodbye to Hanzo and return to his home. Even if he could come on land, how could he live as a human. 

-

 

“Thank you,” Hanzo murmured with a low bow to the village elder. The wind played through her wavy hair and made the bits of shell woven in it dance. He stowed the book of spells into his bag with great care. It was ancient and the pages had been soaked at one point. 

“I hope it provides what knowledge you seek.” Lydia smiled with a far off look in her eyes. “It took some persuading for my kin to bring it to the surface.”

Hanzo followed her gaze to the shore far below. It stretched out in sandy beaches that were scattered with boulders. Seals frollicked and splashed without a care for the humans that fished off the peer. 

“Do you miss it?” Hanzo kept his hands relaxed and open on his thighs. They breathed together with the whoosh of the sea.

“Every day.”

“I could hunt for it.” 

Lydia laughed, a soft musical sound that broke his heart. “It is long gone, my dear. I have no choice but to make my peace with it. It is a good life here and I am close to my people still.”

Silence filtered between them, watching the waves crash in and roll slowly out. The sun was warm on his face but the book against his back was cold.

Its weight was a constant reminder of magic that hummed between its pages. 

“What do you know of sea witches?”

“Is this related to why you needed the book of the deep?”

“Yes.”

The word hung in the air between them and Lydia gave a heavy sigh. Her face creased with concern and she put her hand over Hanzo’s on his leg. “This is not something to be undertaken lightly. The spell could kill a human even if the ocean does not. Even if a sea witch does not. Or you may end up cursed yourself.”

Hanzo looked to the distant horizon where sky and water met. 

“Thank you for the book.”

 

-

 

It was late, far later than anyone had the right to be awake. Jesse was asleep, nestled in his tiny cove with a chunk of salmon clutched in one arm for a late night snack. Hanzo watched with a soft smile, wishing he could sleep with Jesse tucked up on his chest. 

The curse hung heavy in the air. It was a wet shroud on Hanzo’s shoulders as he moved away from the tank and down the stairs to his workshop. It was a small room, barely more than a closet. He flicked on the light and slide into the old chair. 

It was a meticulous place. Nothing was out of it’s spot on hook or shelf. A series of jars across the back hummed softly as the spells of shielding and hiding came to life. It would obscure the magic’s mark from prying eyes. He did not wish his neighbors to know that the simple hunter had his own secrets.

The dragons rumbled under his skin. 

He absently scratched at his left forearm as he set the book of the deep on the worn table. The pages crackled and hissed as he opened it and tried to smooth the worn paper. Despite the damage, the ink had not run. Each word was crisp and sharp. He ran a fingertip over the first line, testing the indents each pin stroke had left. It was an original grimoire or a very well done replica.

He paused to tap across a series of runes carved into the desk. A soft musical chime sounded from the front door and then another in a specific order from each window in the house. 

It was the same tune his mother used to hum to him and his brother as they played by the shrine in their home. It was simple and yet held power, as things of the heart often do. Hanzo sighed into the new layer of quiet that settled over his home.

_ Do you need us? _ The dragons whispered in the space between breaths. 

“Only to watch the house.”

_ This is more than what you know. _

Hanzo frowned as he turned the page to the first chapter of the book and pulled his reading glasses from their hiding spot. Genji was no longer around to tease him about growing old but the thought made him smile fondly.

It was one secret he was not going to sell to Angela the Witch of the Waste no matter what she might have to offer in return.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you fireflyquill, Lady and Anons that sponsored this chapter on my ko-fi! If you'd like to donate towards the next part you can here ko-fi.com/batkatbrown

“Can you turn the page darlin’,” Jesse called over to his best friend who was currently trying to wrangle a bunch of seaweed. The book was popped up on the counter next to him and Hanzo reached over to flick the page without really looking. “Thanks!”

Jesse wriggle deeper into his little sand nest and propped his head in his hand to read. He had missed getting to explore other worlds between the lines of crisp print. The story was vaguely familiar and it was much the same as the novels beneath the waves.

A forbidden love that drove two people apart; a man of the sky that fell in love with a creature of the sea.

Jesse ruminated on the words, moving slowly through the page. He kept half his attention on Hanzo. The hunter was trying to do something fishy with the seaweed and three black pearls on his magical worktable.

“You sure you don’t wanna tell me what you’re doing?” He called lazily without lifting his gaze.

“It is best left unspoken,” Hanzo grumbled. The little vein in his forehead was twitching as he hunched over his work.

Jesse hummed softly in response. “If you are going to be usin’ spells and magics now, could you shrink down a few of my books? Then i could turn the pages myself.”

Hanzo turned with a glare and Jesse shrunk down into the nest of sand. Before his heart could jump into a frantic pace, Hanzo’s face softened and he laughed with a shake of his head. “I am sorry, Jesse. Perhaps you are right and I need to take a break.”

“Y-yeah.” Jesse waved his tail hopefully, 

“And as a shrinking spell eludes me; would you allow me to read to you instead?” Hanzo swiveled in his chair and leaned down to cross his arms on the tabletop. He settled his chin on them and Jesse smiled as it brought him to eye-level.

“Nothing better than gettin’ to hear your pretty voice.” Jesse waggled his eyebrows and flashed a toothy grin. It made a pink tinge rise to the hunter’s cheeks. “Don’t guess i could ask for storytime in the tub?”

* * *

 

“It has been a while since we had a bath.” Hanzo rested his forehead on his arms with a soft laugh. Heat spiked through his veins at Jesse’s simple request. It was different this time, now that he knew Jesse was sentient.

He reached into the tank and teasingly poked at Jesse’s shoulder. “I suppose you also wish for me to get a ring for you to jump through and balls to knock around.”

“Could you?” Jesse’s eyes lit up and his smile nudged his cheeks high. “I used to whip and weave through coral and dodge sharks and wrangle sea dragons. Doing something more than swimming would make it feel a bit like home.”

Hanzo rested his head in one hand, nodding to his companion. It made sense. If he could not train and use his full body, he would feel restless to. “Perhaps a quick trip to the store is necessary before we relax in a bath.”

“I would love ya even more darlin’,” Jesse’s warm voice shot straight to his heart and he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment.

“Then we shall go.”

“How?”

Hanzo glanced to an empty jar. It would fit in his messenger bag. Jesse would fit even if it was a little tight and Hanzo leaned back in his chair. It would work.

The store was nearly empty on the early thursday morning. The few other customers drifted aimlessly or shuffled along in fuzzy slippers, paid them no mind. Hanzo kept his face blank and impassive as they maneuvered through the petstore. There were plenty of interesting plastic and rubber toys in the dog section that would float.

“What about this one?” Hanzo subtly tilted his messenger bag so Jesse could see the wall of merchandise better. It was a knobbly rubber dog toy that had a hole inside it for peanut butter or other treats. “Perhaps put fish in the hole.”

Jesse squinted at it, his human half hauled up to stick out of the mostly empty jar. “Is that really a dog toy?”

“Yes?” A quick look to the left and the right proved them to be alone. He lifted the jar and jesse free of his bag and held him closer to the red toy. 

“Hmm, looks like it’d fit a dick more than some of that peanut butter stuff.”

Hanzo nearly dropped the jar with a splutter. Choked laughter stuck in his throat and he coughed around it. “It does… in a way appear to be a … sleeve of sorts.”

“You humans got some interesting ideas.” Jesse reached out to touch it with a suspicious look. “But i figure it might be fun to swim through and wrestle given half the chance. I like the look of that one too.”

Hanzo moved down the aisle and lifted Jesse to inspect to his heart’s content. The shopping basket slowly filled up with enrichment toys from both the dog, fish and cat section. Jesse was nearly giddy over the small plastic fishing pole with a brightly colored fish at the end. It was nothing like a real fish but he was chomping at the bit.

“Will you look at that,” Jesse whistled after the words. 

Hanzo found himself directed over to a display of brightly colored tubes. They were assembled into an intricate run for hamsters or mice ending on each side in a wide cages. 

“I wonder if they are watertight.” Hanzo mused as he approached the boxed version of the display. He taped on the transparent plastic with a fingernail. It was strong and study and with a bit of magic, it might be possible to turn it to a different use.

“I could swim anywhere in the house, or at least around.”

“Perhaps we can even set up tanks along the way for you to rest in. You could explore and swim to your heart’s content during the day. Maybe we could even connect it to the koi ponds.” Hanzo couldn’t contain his grin.

* * *

 

It took most of the morning and afternoon to get set up and Jesse waited eagerly in his main tank. He wriggled in the water, chasing the long fins of his tail as Hanzo went up and down a ladder. Sweat made his shirt cling to his back and Jesse did his best not to fixate on the strong muscles it showed off.

The jeans hung low and a very interesting band of fabric peaked over. He had always thought underwear were a bit strange. There was no need to cover his hips or waist in this form, at least as long as he kept himself under control. He breathed slowly, focusing on the fluttering of his gills and the expanse of his water lungs. 

Jesse chewed on his thoughts and a chunk of catfish as Hanzo wiped his sweating brow. It was a shame that he was too small to act on the fantasties trying to break through his guard. It would be harder to hide the heat burning just under his skin when they were in the bath together. If they managed to get to it before the day was over.

It was dark outside when the tubes had been set up all over the house. Water was slowly poured into them from the second floor, all the while adjusting containment spells on the different tanks and resting areas so it didn’t all rush out. 

Jesse tested out the first section. 

The tubes were big enough for him to fit comfortably and he gave his tail an experimental undulation. He rose quickly along the transparent colorful pipe until he could look down at Hanzo. He waved excitedly and bobbed against the side. 

The hunter’s grin was bright enough to light up the room. He pointed along the tube to the stairs and Jesse was quick to follow his lead. He darted along the tubes and wriggled around the ninety degree turn and started to climb. It was dizzying and wonderful. The illusion of depth brought a part of his instincts roaring back to life.

He chased Hanzo up the stairs and whipped around the corner to follow him into his bedroom. Hanzo’s laugh was muffled through the water but still beautiful. There was a tank on his bedside table still. It was connect now and Jesse dove down into it with a cheer. He tumbled among the leafy greens and swirled to face up.

He beached himself on the warm sand and rocks with a holler of pure joy.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Big Thanks to Marinus, Ghost, 'somebody' and Anons for sponsoring this chapter on ko-fi.com/batkatbrown

Jesse lazily swam through the highway of tubes while Hanzo showered. He stretched out to trail his fingertips along the walls before diving down to the bottom floor. The living room made more sense now that he could get some perspective on it.

Exploring the winding hot pink, neon yellow and electric blue tunnel, he chuckled to see just how much things had changed since he’d first come here. There was mess everywhere for one. Not enough to make the average person cringe but the clinical, baren feeling was gone. There were books scattered on the coffee table and stacked in haphazard piles around the sofa.

The leafy plants had broken from their carefully confined pots to spread across the window sill in the kitchen and the mint was threatening to jump to other pots. Jesse paused to look into Hanzo’s magic room. Little more than a closet, it now stayed open most of the time. Notebooks full of scribbling and diagrams littered the space and jars of seaweed and sand and tiny bones from fish were stacked along the walls and piled up where the shelves were too full. 

He wanted to hold one of the massive pearls that were nestled on a blue velvet tray. It would be the size of his head. He’d loved diving for oysters back home and slurping the tasty little treat down straight.

Pearls felt good in the mouth and crunched so perfectly between his teeth. He licked his lips and wistfully daydreamed about foraging with Hanzo in the warm water along the coast. They would swim lazily down together. Hanzo’s arms would go around his waist, his legs curled around his tail as they dove.

Hanzo’s hair would drift like ink in the water and the sunlight would shimmer endlessly on his face. Jesse would crack open the clams with his claws and offer the tender meat. He could see the way hanzo’s face tightened with pleasure as he slurped it from the shell.

They would wander the coast till they were tired.

The fantasy began to fall apart.

Where would Hanzo stay? Would Jesse deliver him to the surface and watch as the man walked away. Could Jesse convince him to stay under the waves and slumber in a nest made for two.

 

\--

 

Hanzo left in the middle of the night.

The moon was hidden behind a thick veil of clouds and he was just another shadow lurking in a dingy alley. Fine mist hovered in the air and he blinked away the moisture gathering on his eyelashes as he waited.

The neon sign glowed and shimmered like an otherworldly harbinger of prophecy across the street. It cast shards of hot pink across his face and stabbed into his eyes. He blinked them away and let the minutes trickle past.

“You should really wear less cologne. I could smell you down the block.”

Hanzo tensed as a figure appeared from the shadows next to him. The white of his mask reflected the light and the markings seemed to curl and undulate. Horns arched from the crest and fangs jutted from the grinning mouth.

Hanzo threw himself forward and dragged the figure into a tight hug. “I have missed your terrible sense of humor.” He laughed into his brother’s shoulder as he was picked up. Ribs groaned as his little brother crushed him and his feet nearly left the ground. “Have you grown even more?”

“I just stand straighter these days.” Genji released him and slapped him roundly on the back. “We should not speak here. There are eyes, even here.”

Hanzo nodded and stood to the side as Genji drew his short blade. The edge shown green in the night and the mist made streaks of color smear in the air. Four slashes, too fast to follow, and a portal opened. The diamond mouth dragged in the air around them and Hanzo shuddered. He never liked traveling this way.

The dragons rolled under his skin and he had to quiet them with a murmured promise of safety. There was no danger here. Other than being shattered inside the portal and disappearing into oblivion.

Genji was already stepping through with the casual recklessness he always displayed. Hanzo straightened his shoulders and raised his chin. He was proud that his hands only shook slightly as the void swallowed him.

He sucked in a harsh breath as reality snapped back around him. Cold air burned his lungs and he coughed into swirls of snow. High mountain winds blustered him and knocked him back. He squinted into the gale and glared at his brother.

“You did not warn me you lived in the mountains now.”

“It’s not far! I thought you were tough, brother?” Genji’s shit eating grin was clear in his voice, even behind his mask.

Hanzo rolled his eyes as they started to climb the hill. A small village layout below them, covered in snow and bundled tight against a storm. Hanzo kept his head down as they drifted across the mountain. The pathways wound up to a large building with sturdy cut stones. It was ancient and Hanzo shivered as they passed beneath a stone arch way. 

The dim morning light struggled against the heavy clouds.

He was glad to be out of the wind as they climbed steps to a small room. A bridge ran from it to a central building but the door kept most of the chill out. The window was covered in frost. 

“Forgive the cold. I will bring the fire up.” Genji knocked snow from his shoulders and crouched in front of the hearth. A bank of coals glowed when he breathed on them and then burst into raging flames.

“Show off.” 

Hanzo huffed at the shameless display of magic but drew close to the fire. He warmed his hands and shed his damp coat. The room was heating quickly and he began to relax some. Soon there was a kettle of musky, fragrant tea leaves and spices over the fire and both brothers stared into its depth with blankets drawn around their shoulders.

Genji pulled the kettle from the fire and mixed in milk from a small container sitting near the coals. It turned the tea into a beautiful swirl of color and Hanzo could lose himself into it. He breathed in the scent before sipping.

It was sweet and welcomed on his tongue.

“Your message was cryptic.”

“The witch still thinks you are dead.” 

“More cryptic than normal.” Genji pushed the mask back enough to sip the burning liquid. “What have you gotten yourself into Hanzo?”

“I need your help getting into far more.”

“I have lived for this moment.” Genji crowd and they clicked their cups together. Trouble had always brought them together and Genji snatched the grimoire from his hands with a wild light in his eyes. “Trouble indeed.”

 

-

 

Hanzo stumbled home as the sun rose, shivering from the portal’s void. There was a wax paper packet folded and sealed closed stashed in the lining of his coat. The green dragon’s mouth roared from the wax seal and gnashed it’s teeth.

His dragons undulated slowly in response, a lazy teasing type of energy as if the green dragon was merely a rambunctious puppy. Hanzo touched the spot over his heart and he could feel the hidden spell.

Heat lingered despite the snow that was melting on his shoulders from his brother’s tight hug. They had spent the night pouring over the grimoire again and sharing stories of the past year apart.

They parted with promises to meet again as soon as it was safe. The portals were too easy to track to use frequently and Genji still owed the Witch of the Waste enough that her eyes were peeled for him.

Hanzo hung his coat by the door and tugged the sash out of his hair. It feel around him with a horrible kink from the band. He fussed with the damp strands as he shuffled to the kitchen and fell upon the first food he could find.

“Can I have some?”

Hanzo whipped around guilty, spoon hanging out of his mouth and jar of peanut butter in hand. Jesse waved from his locked tank, sleepy and soft with his hair sticking up wildly.  _ Did he sleep on land?  _

“Of course,” Hanzo shuffled into the living room and unlocked the tank. He lifted his little damp friend from the sand and half collapsed into the chair. He slunk down in the seat and pillowed Jesse on his chest. He licked the back of the spoon clean before dipping the tip into the jar. He offered the little dollop to Jesse. 

The merman shuffled forward and nosed along the spoon. He tried to lick some off but struggled to keep his balance on his single hand. Hanzo waited for a moment, trying not to smile, before smearing a little of the creamy peanut butter on his index finger.

He offered it to Jesse and popped the spoon back in his mouth.

“You spoil me, Sugar,” Jesse crooned and leaned in to lick it off. 

Hanzo squirmed as a long tongue flicked out and swirled over the skin. It was a tiny trail of warmth and sent pinpricks of pleasure down his spine. He tilted his index finger to press just a bit into Jesse’s ministrations.

Sharp teeth scraped along the valleys and mountains of his fingerprint to chase the treat and Hanzo was soon dipping it back into the peanut butter. They repeated the ritual and Hanzo forgot his hunger as Jesse lapped along his digit, his arm wrapped tightly around the knuckle.

He gulped around a hot throbbing need in his throat.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks Fujo for using your patreon reward for April! <3

Jesse smiled up at his companion, not minding the strange angle that much. He even thought the few gray hairs in Hanzo’s nose were kinda cute. Being tiny had given him a much different perspective on life and beauty.

Hanzo would be gorgeous from any angle. Even now, when he was asleep with his head listing to the side and mouth slightly parted. Huffy snores occasionally shook his chest and Jesse enjoyed the rise and fall. He was starting to dry out a bit but he could let Hanzo rest for a while longer.

He rested his head back against the rise of Hanzo’s collarbone and closed his eyes. He could feel the low hum of magic close to his tail. It was dampened by his clothes and some kind of concealment spell.

It smelled like burnt sugar and metal. Jesse wriggled to come closer to the source of it. He could feel his heart shuddering in time with it, a source of powerful energy. It wasn’t Hanzo’s magic but it was similar.

Jesse smoothed the fabric of Hanzo’s jacket before curling up around the hidden spell and let himself drift off.

 

Something small smacked against Hanzo’s chin. He grumbled and tilted his head away without opening his eyes. A second slap chased him and he shifted in the chair to lean out of reach of the offending intrusion.

“Hanzo, I need you t’wake up!”

He blinked open his eyes and forced them to focus on the small figure right in front of his nose. He had to cross them a bit but Jesse became clear. “Jess?” He mumbled, trying to piece together where he was.

The downstairs living room, sometime in the late afternoon and with a raging headache. And a merman trying to get his attention. His scales looked dry and pale and reality caught up to him.

“Shit.”

“Didn’t want t’wake you but I gotta get back in the tank.”

Hanzo cupped Jesse in a hand, letting his wide hips and tail curl into the middle. He lowered his friend into the water slowly and let Jesse push off at his own speed. “Sorry, Jesse.” He twirled a finger through the water, not ready to part just yet.

The spell hummed against his breast and he touched it with his free hand. It was not for the idea floating around in his groggy head but it was sounding better by the second. Genji would laugh at him and probably clap him on the back to do it anyway.

He was so tired and dehydrated and lonely. He could admit it now as he watched Jesse swim lazily among the soft green plants. He had been alone for so long. 

“Do you want lunch?” He asked, considering what was available in the coldbox. 

Jesse was underwear but it looked like he was nodding. They both seemed to always be hungry and Hanzo shuffled to the kitchen. He found some hard boiled eggs from the day before and sliced ham. He threw it all onto a plate and diced an apple for Jesse and loaded up fresh strawberries. 

Jesse was on the little beach when he returned. “Smells great, Darlin’. Those eggs for me?” 

Hanzo chuckled and set one down next to the merman. It was as big as his torso. He carefully lowered samplings of the other food as well before putting his portion on the table. Picking up several books from the stack on the floor, he made a crude staircase up the side of the tank.

“What’s that for?” Jesse mumbled through a mouthful of strawberry. His cheeks were smeared red and would be perfect to lick off. He jumped at the stab of desire in his groin and he quickly looked back to his plate of food.

He settled on a chair near the table and braced his elbow on it. “Just in case you need to get back into the tank and I’m asleep like an old man.” Hanzo chuckled to himself, feeling his age for a moment.

“Hmm, guess it would work.” 

“Hopefully you will not need it.”

Hanzo rubbed the spot on his jacket where the spell was hidden. “I saw my brother last night.”

“Really? You had someone over and didnt wake me up?”

“I went to his home, several continents away. I did not wish to risk you traveling through a portal or i would have brought you.” Hanzo smiled fondly at the thought of the meeting. They would get along very well; they both seemed to have run afoul of witches in the past and have a love of adventure.

“What called for the trip?” Jesse lounged on the beach in his tank, alternating between wolfing down the fruit and cracking the eggs shell. 

“I was asking for his help with a spell.”

Jesse glanced up, hope clearly written across his tiny face. “A spell?”

“It was for your books and other things, to make it easier living here.” Hanzo opened his jacket and tugged the packet free from the seam. He crinkled it between his fingers. The red powder crackled and sizzled at the stimulation.

“A shrinking spell? Dang, darlin’, this brother of yours must be a fine mage.”

“He has far too much curiosity for his own good.” Hanzo snapped the green dragon seal of wax and unfolded the paper slowly. He was not sure how long this would last. It was risky and foolish and surely a bad idea. 

Hanzo quickly ran the calculations. His weight and volume was put against the strength of the spell divided into halves and quarters and eighths. His brother may be best at enchantations and bewitching but when it came to math, there was no comparison.

“What are you thinkin’? You got a strange look on your face.”

“I will return in a moment.” Hanzo hurried to the kitchen, ignoring Jesse’s confused questions. He had to do this before he came to his senses. He set the small scale on the counter. The glass tray needed a quick cleaning but soon he was measuring the full weight of the spell.

He carefully measured out the exact portion he needed. It was hard to stay long enough to package up the left over. He took the single pinch of crimson powder between his fingers as he walked to Jesse’s tank. A deep breath helped center him and he calmed his heart. Jesse was watching him intensely, eyes darting over him.

Hanzo sat on the table and sprinkled the spell over his head and down his body. “I’ll see you soon.” He smiled down at jesse before closing his eyes. It started as a tingle that grew to a burn like staying too long in the sun at noon.

The air thickened in his lungs and he grabbed at the edge of the table to steady himself. Distantly Jesse was yelling and trying to climb out of the tank. 

Everything went black.

 

-

 

Jesse slammed into the glass. His tail lashed grooves in the sand as he shunted himself higher. Hanzo was on the table. Not moving. He was tiny and delicate and looked so damn still. “Hanzo? Hanzo! What the fuck did you do?” He scratched at the glass.

He whipped around, eyes darting from the fake rocks to the plants and he was desperate. The heat lamp’s cord was dangling just barely below the edge of the tank. He rolled his tail and sprang towards it.

He got his hand around it and dragged himself up. He thrashed, heart in his throat, and somehow managed to teeter over the edge. He fell to the table with a yell and wet thud. 

Writhing onto his front, he dragged himself to Hanzo’s diminutive form. 

“Hanzo? Darlin’?” He grabbed his jacket and hauled him close. 

“Wake up. Please,” Jesse bowed over the human’s form. This close, he could see the beautiful shape of his eyes, the regal curve of his nose and the sweet half smile on his lips clearly.

Tears welled up and dripped down his nose. They splattered on hanzo’s perfect, rosy cheek and ran back into his wings. Jesse held his weight on his stump and cupped Hanzo’s face. “Come on, Sweetheart.”

Jesse curled forward and pressed his face into the sweet curve of Hanzo’s neck. A sob wracked him to the tip of his tail. He dragged Hanzo into his arm, covering him with his body as if he could hug life into him.

“You are… even more beautiful than i thought.”

Jesse broke with a cracking sob as Hanzo’s eyes opened and his mouth curled into a triumphant smile.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Huge shout out to "Lady", Marinus and Anon who helped sponsor this fic on Ko-fi.com/batkatbrown

Jesse sobbed in relief as Hanzo woke and threw himself down in a hug. He tangled with the tiny human and hid his face against Hanzo’s soft hair. “Don’t you ever fuckin’ scare me like that again.” 

“It was worth it.” Hanzo’s voice was so soothing, right next to his ear and barely audible. “I wanted to see you. To talk to you, without going cross eyed.”

“I’m right here, darlin’,” Jesse managed to take his weight back on his stump and hand. Hanzo was dazed looking, smiling up like the moon had just been hung in the sky. “Shit, ain’t you a brave fool.”

“It was a calculated risk.”

Jesse couldn’t help but smile as Hanzo’s hand came to cup his cheek. Loving brushes sent little shivers of bliss through his veins and he curled his tail to hug Hanzo’s legs. He couldn't stop staring, soaking up the sight of high cheekbones and dark lashes and the endless pools of the man’s eyes.

“Nearly gave me a heart attack,” Jesse murmured as he hesitantly touched the man’s cheek. It was warm and smooth. He followed the curve down to his neatly trimmed beard. He scratched at the thicker patch at his chin and when it made Hanzo laugh, he thought it might have died and gone to heaven.

“I think it was your turn to be scared.” 

“I do give you a fright pretty often.” Jesse agreed, leaning a little closer as they shared a chuckle. “I aint seen anyone my size in so long. But I’m pretty sure you’re still the handsomest man I ever met.”

‘You are just a flatterer,” Hanzo tilted his head and Jesse followed the movement. 

“Ain’t flattery if it’s true.” Jesse brushed his thumb along Hanzo’s bottom lip, marveling at the plump supple flesh. It was a smooth curve and he ached to press his thumb tip inside the wet confines of his mouth. 

Hanzo’s eyes fluttered half closed and just the slightest tension relaxed around his mouth. Jesse teased his thumb against the seal of his lips, mesmerized by the sight of his blunt claw slowly breaking through bit by bit.

Hanzo’s tongue rose to meet him with a hesitant touch that made heat thunder through jesse’s veins. “Do I taste strange?” He murmured, unable to tear his eyes away from where their bodies met. 

“Yes.”

“Is it bad?” Jesse chuckled though he knew the answer before Hanzo spoke as his tongue rose again. It curled along the pad and Jesse grunted as the man’s teeth sunk into the tip. Jesse rolled his hips at the sensation, shivering through the flush of desire. 

“You sorry for scaring me so bad?” Jesse pressed his thumb against Hanzo’s lip and it slide deeper. He whimpered at the hot wet confines pressing tight with a slurp that made slick gush to his slit. 

It shocked him out of the drugged moment and he quickly rolled off the smaller man. He hunched and drew his tail up as if bending his knees to his chest. He wasn’t going to get hard and flushed just because Hanzo humored him in a moment of dazed attraction.

“It won’t last for long.” Hanzo paused to clear his throat and was suddenly back in Jesse’s space. His hair was so soft where it fell on Jesse’s shoulder that he wanted to cry. “But while i’m tiny, i don’t want to waste a moment.”

“Course not, darlin’.” Jesse managed to drag his head up and rested it against the silken crown of Hanzo’s own. He cast for something to say, something to distract Hanzo so he wouldn’t look down and see the obscene pretty pink slit trying threatening to open. “Swim with me?”

“I would love it.” Hanzo jumped to his feet with surprising energy and Jesse laughed. 

“So that staircase was for both of us, huh?” he shifted to get his tail under him. It forced him to sway as he half slid and dragged himself towards the first book. It came up to Hanzo’s knees and Jesse wasn’t surprised to see his companion nimbly scale the whole stack in a rush. 

It took Jesse more effort and he fumbled with only one arm to heft himself up.

“Let me help.” 

Jesse drew away at the offered hand. Hot breathes rolled out from the strain but he wasn’t going to be helpless, not when they were finally the same size. “You just wait till we’re in the water, then I’ll run circles around you.”

“I look forward to it. Let us hurry.”

Jesse huffed, making a show of fanning his tail and puffing up his chest, but he let Hanzo grab him under his good arm. A thrumming note of desire crescendoed at how easily Hanzo manhandled him, even at the same size. He was all muscle and firm as Jesse leaned on him. He couldn’t keep his hand from dropping to the man’s waist. 

He spread his fingers, digging his claws into the thick fabric of his jacket. Just enough to feel the hard muscle flex and the sudden giddy flutter of Hanzo’s laugh.

“Careful, i’m ticklish. I would hate to drop you.”

“No fear of that,” Jesse teased back as they finally made it to the top step. He wriggled across the old leather to the edge of the tank. It was a bit of a drop down on the other side but he went tail first to take the worst of it.

He rolled in the sand and righted himself with a slap of his tail. Hanzo was above him, watching with a dancing light in his eyes that made Jesse blush. “C’mon down, sweetheart. I’ll catch you in my arms.” Jesse opened his arms to demonstrate. “Well, arm and a half.”

“I can jump down. I would hate to knock you out with an ill placed elbow or knee. I do not want to lose the time with you.”

Jesse nodded and backed away from the glass side. He was ready to get back in the water and slipped beneath its surface with an contented sigh. It wrapped him up and held him like a lover in the sunlight filtering in through the window. Waving fronds of green rose up and flirted with the tips of his fins and he popped his head above the surface.

Hanzo was on the beach now, kicking off his shoes. 

Jesse quickly pushed himself into the shallows with hsi weight propped on his elbow and stump. He whistled slowly as Hanzo shed his jacket and was quick with wink when the hunter glared at him.

“This is not a show.”

“Looks like one to me,” Jesse shot back between a crooked smile. “I seen you in your briefs before, this ain’t nothing new to me.”

“This is… different.”

“Could swim in your pants.”

“It would be unpleasant.”

“Should I look away?” Jesse fought back a laugh. He didn’t want to make Hanzo uncomfortable even if he thought the sudden shyness was cute.

Hanzo rolled his eyes. “You are a flirt.” 

Jesse didn’t deny it but he did turn his attention to the side as Hanzo stripped. He could hear the rustle of fabric and the soft thumps it made hitting the sand. He rolled in the water, splashing his tail as he tried not to focus on the thought of Hanzo in his arms.

He couldn’t change to his human shape anyway.

“Is the water cold?” Hanzo asked and Jesse looked up with a smile.

“It’s perfect but i’ll warm you up if you get cold.”

Hanzo snorted but began to wade into the tank. He was beautiful and regal in a way that made Jesse’s heart clench. He didn’t leave Hanzo for long and as soon as the water was up to waist, Jesse swam over. He lazily wrapped his arms around Hanzo and pressed his forehead to his stomach. It was firm and steady beneath him and so warm.

He pressed a kiss to the soft skin and smirked at the shuddery breath hanzo dragged in. “You look good in the water.”

“As do you,” Hanzo murmured, voice low and filled with a laugh.

Jesse guided him into the deeps bit by bit with easy nudges and gentle pulls. He couldn’t take his eyes off Hanzo’s chest as it came to his level. Perfect and strong with just a tiny hint of softness that made them seem almost plump. 

They drifted in the deepest part of the tank, slowly swirling around each other. Jesse kept his hand on Hanzo’s hip, afraid to let go.

“I can’t believe i’m not dreaming.” He whispered, daring to draw Hanzo a little closer. Their chests bumped in the cool water. Droplets fell from the tip of Hanzo’s nose and Jesse leaned in without thinking to touch their nose tips together.

“I cannot either.”

Hanzo’s breath was warm on his lips and he ached with a fierce loneliness and joy that he nearly broke into pieces. The sun was setting and the tank shimmered with the pinks and peaches. It sparkled from the surface of the water to dance in each drop that clung to Hanzo’s hair and face. 

Jesse spread one across the man’s cheek and up, smoothing the faintest lines that gathered in the corner of his eye. He wanted to kiss them away but settled for rubbing gentle circles.

Hanzo’s legs buffeted his legs minutely as he tread water. It was a strange sensation and yet he loved it. “Your skin’s so soft,” he murmured, unable to take his eyes off hanzo’s.

“Your scales are… much softer than I thought.” Hanzo’s hand trailed through the water, moving so slowly that Jesse forgot how to breath while he waited. It touched his hip, high enough that it touched both flesh and scales. He shifted with a flick of his tail to press into it.

His eyes fell closed and he couldn’t stop the heartbreaking whimper that broke past his lips.

“Everything about you is perfect, Jesse.”

 


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All my love goes to the three Anons who funded this chapter by donating. I hope you enjoy this chapter <3

Hanzo ached as the merman’s arm slide around his waist. Close enough to see the tiny scales like freckles across Jesse’s nose and cheeks and the way his mouth was soft and relaxed. 

“You’re beautiful.” Hanzo murmured, unable to look away as his hand shifted lower on Jesse’s hips. The scales were smooth under his palm, shimmering in crimson and gold in the fading sunlight.

“Ain’t that suppose to be what I’m sayin’?” The words hung in the air like a sea breeze and Hanzo was ready to be blown away.

He shivered as Jesse’s hand slowly caressed down his back. Each claw tip dragged lightly over his skin and he arched into it. The movement was repeated as Jesse pulled him into a slow rotation. Hanzo locked his arms around Jesse’s neck and closed his eyes to savor the weightlessness.

They drifted in lazy circles, chest to chest as the sun played on the water’s surface around them. Hanzo basked in the warmth of Jesse’s bare breast and stomach and as the merman shifted to swim on his back Hanzo let his powerful tail come between his legs.

He held on with his thighs, hugging himself hard to the muscled limb and there was ignoring the gasp that broke from Jesse’s lips. He was so gorgeous below him, his hair fanning out in the water and body undulating so show off every muscle and tantalizing line of his form. 

Hanzo pressed his palm to the softness where Jesse’s human form bled into scales and dragged from his hip to the lowest part of the cradle of his pelvis. A sharp hiss made him jerk his hand back guilty and he raised his gaze to Jesse’s face with an apology on his lips.

The man’s pupils were blown wide and his nose flared with a sharp breath that fanned the ache in Hanzo’s chest. They were on the shore now, Jesse’s shoulders braced against a sandy slope and Hanzo settled his weight fully on the merman’s tail.

Water droplets sparkled on the merman’s cheeks and his parted lips shown with it. Hanzo ached to lick them off and burn Jesse up. He hesitated, taking in the way Jesse’s arms shivered at his sides as if afraid to move.

“Jesse.” Hanzo took a breath, starting to lift his weight off. “I’m sorry for presuming-”

“Please.” Jesse’s hand sprang to rest on his thigh, just the lightest touch. “Just… please.”

It was hard to breath as Jesse’s face flashed a desperation that echoed the one in Hanzo’s heart. A plea for connection, acceptance and belonging neither of them had found in the sea or land that couldn’t go unanswered.

Like a siren’s call, it hurged Hanzo on and he curled forward. His hair dripped in a halo around Jesse and his hands couldn’t find a place to rest. They alighted on his chest, his shoulders until he came home with Jesse’s face cradled between them.

A tremble worked through his fingers. He did his best to steady them but the shaking wouldn’t leave. He searched Jesse’s wide eyes for that final permission, nose tips almost touching.

It came in the form of Jesse’s hand sliding up his arm and into his hair. A soft caress of his blunt nails along his scalp encouraged him to stretch closer and his eyes began to flutter closed. He didn’t need to see to know how to find his way home and peace welled up as he gently pressed his lips to Jesse’s mouth.

Sweetly, like a blessing spoken without words, the kiss drew out between them. 

Hanzo eased back when his smile made it impossible to keep the kiss going. Jesse was beaming back at him when he opened his eyes and a giddy laugh made his tail undulate. Hanzo rode it with a chuckle and did his best not to get rolled off as Jesse sat up.

His mouth was sealed with another kiss and the world spun.

The sand was on his back and the last dredges of sunset filtered in to turn the ceiling a dusky lavender but his gaze was full of Jesse. A groan was punched out of him as Jesse’s weight settled fully against him, legs forced wide to accept the width of his tail.

He reached up to tangle both hands in Jesse’s hair and drag him down into another kiss. He bit at his lips eagerly, wanting to taste his mouth and tangle with the long tongue he had glimpsed before. 

“Darlin’,” Jesse’s voice came out hoarse and rough. “Darlin’, you don’t want it when i’m like this.”

Hanzo snorted but relaxed back to the sands. He let Jesse squirm above him, caught between conflicting needs. Hanzo reached up slowly this time and swept his thumb across Jesse’s bottom lip.

“Let me see you.”

“It’s nothing to marvel at.” Jesse wouldn’t meet his eyes as he spoke. 

“Hmm,” Hanzo hummed around the sound and teasingly dragged his ip down. “I have waited to know the feeling of this mouth and tongue so far, I suppose I can wait a little longer.”

Jesse ducked his head as he laughed and buried it against Hanzo’s shoulder. He reached up to cup the back of his head and held him there. If Jesse was unwilling to give him access to that strange, long tongue and mouthful of delightfully predatory teeth, he would have to wait.

A tentative lick across his throat made him moan, the touch going straight to his dick. He planted his feet on the sand and lifted up to press himself tight and fast to the cool smooth plane of Jesse’s tail.

“Shit.” Jesse swore against his neck and followed it with a open mouthed kiss.

Desire sang through every muscle and Hanzo eagerly tilted his head to give Jesse access. Sharp canines scratched along his throat but the sting disappeared in a long swirl of a tongue that could make him wail if given half the chance.

Hanzo held him there, fingers tangled deep in his hair and eyes squeezed shut to savor each rush of heat. Jesse kissed up and down his throat, flicking at his earlobe on a pass and Hanzo shuddered as need drew tight around him.

“Too much?” Jesse murmured into his ear, husky and rough and tried to pull away.

“No.” Hanzo growled as his merman started to slide off him. Jesse’s biceps were iron beneath his fingertips but he heaved the man over. They rolled in the shallows and Hanzo scrambled to stay on top. He thumped his ass down hard on Jesse’s stomach and rooted him to the spot. 

“Hanzo, don’t look at me.” Jesse whispered, good hand cover his face and his stump drawn tight to his chest.

“Why would I not want to look?” Hanzo softened and crooned to his companion. He trailed a hand over each of Jesse’s hair pecs, giving them an appreciative squeeze before mapping the valleys and hills of his abs.

“Just… i can’t turn human, no matter how much I might wanna right now.”

Hanzo blinked as understanding began to settle and he resisted the urge to twist and look at Jesse’s hips behind him. He was not sure what he would see and the thought sent a thrill down his spine. 

He leaned down to press a tender kiss to Jesse’s tense mouth. The lines of worry melting away as Hanzo slowed them down. He planted his elbows in the shallows on either side of Jesse to bracket him in.

“This is more than enough, Jesse.” Hanzo lowered his mouth to Jesse’s cheeks were his scales flashed in the low light. A sigh of relief moved through the man under him and Hanzo smiled against his shoulder.

Their breathing slowly found a rhythm and Hanzo soaked up the closeness. Jesse’s arms half around him and their bare chests pressed together. They ended up on their sides in the shallows. Hanzo’s head pillowed on Jesse’s thick bicep and his arm thrown over his side.

He wiggled his toes against Jesse’s tail and he jumped with a grunt. 

“Are you ticklish?” Hanzo chuckled, keeping his eyes on Jesse’s face. He did not want to disturb the peace that spun between them but he could feel the shift of something slowly closing against his bare stomach.

“Are you?” Jesse countered and he wiggled his hand threateningly at Hanzo’s side.

Hanzo quickly shielded it with his arm. “Definitely not.” He wanted to cut off that line of thinking quickly.

“When you could change your shape, what did you do when you came on land?”

The mischievous light shifted in Jesse’s eyes and he curled forward till their foreheads were touching. Hanzo studied his mouth as he spoke, cataloging each beautiful and deadly fang to use later when he was alone.

 


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to Anari, Murgelgurgel, ghost, bimmunity and anons for the coffee!

Jesse smiled, sure he had died and gone to heaven to have Hanzo in his arms. He had been right, Hanzo was a little smaller than him when they were at the same scale. He ran his fingertips along the curve of his bicep and up to his shoulder as he thought about Hanzo’s question.

He had loved the human world so much from the first time he stepped onto the beach at fifteen. It had been an escape from the madness of the sea and school of merpeople that had taken him in. 

That first step had made his heart thunder but he’d learned to walk, naked and free on the beach at night with scales in his hair and stars in his eyes. It had been simpler then, before he’d been dragged into Deadlock and ended up cursed at the hands of a witch with too many limbs and a beak sharp enough to cut through flesh and bone in an instant.

“I used t’come on land to dance. I was clumsy at it but nothing beat the sound of live music and the wriggling of my legs.”

“Do you not dance as a merman?” Hanzo’s eyes danced with the last touches of sunset.

“We got our own dances but they’re slower and bigger you know?” Jesse caressed the smooth skin of Hanzo’s neck, aching to taste it again. “We dance like dolphins do. Leap out of the sea into the sunlight or spiral together in the currents. It’s hard to hold someone close when you got ten feet of tail and fin constantly knocking into each other.”

“It sounds beautiful.”

“It is but it’s not like having an armful of human wriggling against you or getting dipped and looking up like you hung the moon.” Jesse sighed at the memories from before his life had crumbled. “I used t’think all my problems could be solved by taking what I wanted. I ain’t sure how i ended up cursed but it’s probably my own fault for being a bastard.”

“We will break the curse, Jesse.” Hanzo was so confident and certain but Jesse’s anxiety simmered under his collarbone. “Everything is going to be alright.”

“I sure hope so,” Jesse blinked back sudden tears and rolled onto his back. Hanzo took the invitation and climbed on top of him. His hair dripped on his chest and down his bare stomach. Jesse followed a glimmering drop with his eyes and then his thumb. He wandered to the soaked black fabric of his boxer briefs and down the creamy thighs.

He settled his hand firmly on the top of Hanzo’s leg and squeezed. If only he could transform he could kiss and lick into all of Hanzo’s sweet, hidden places. The curse locked him as a merman and kept him away from giving this man everything he had.

“How long you got left?” he spoke softly, unwilling to hear the answer for fear that it would be short.

“I don’t know. Not much longer,” Hanzo tempered the words with his fingers in Jesse’s hair. He almost forgot how bitter the answer was when Hanzo was looking at him. “I want to kiss you again Jesse.”

“Please.”

Jesse sighed into the warmth of Hanzo’s mouth and tried to forget the curse coiled around his heart. A gentle touch tongue on his bottom lip made him grunt and laugh. He shifted to nibble on Hanzo’s in return. 

If only he didn’t have a monster’s tongue that would eclipse Hanzo’s and dominate without meaning too. It was hard to resist, so hard as Hanzo laid along his body. Chest to chest, Jesse breathed with his rescuer between tender kisses.

“I don’t want to say goodbye.”

“I’ll still be here, Jesse.” Hanzo whispered the words against his ear and Jesse wanted to believe them. “And I’ll be able to shrink again soon enough. And I’ll get your books sized down for you so it won’t be so boring in the meantime.”

“I’d like that,” Jesse forced himself to breath out long and slow. It eased the tension in his chest and he looked at the dark sky through the window. Time marched relentlessly on and he could only hope that one day he would be wild and free again to dance in the moonlight.

“After the curse is broken…” Jesse trailed off, gaze settling over Hanzo’s serene face. His hair was drying in crazy waves and tiny bits of sand sparkled in the silver light of the moon. Did he dare ask Hanzo what would happen when he was a free merman again? 

It was too soon to dream of something lasting.

Hanzo nuzzled closer to his chest and buried his face against his shoulder. Warm and solid and built with muscle, he was a comforting weight and Jesse’s troubled thoughts began to still. Hanzo seemed to be asleep, exhausted by his trip to visit his brother and a long night.

Jesse didn’t mind. He wrapped his arm around the man of his affections and pressed soft kisses to the top of his head.

The magic wore off sooner than Jesse wanted but he knew it was for the best. Midnight was approaching and the hunger would strike and he would turn back into a monster. Hanzo woke as blue sparks began to dance along his body and groggily mouthed at his throat.

Jesse twitched as hanzo’s lips brushed the delicate frill of his gills, heat flashing down his groin and tail. “You gotta get up, darlin’.” Jesse ran his hand down the man’s bare back to rest just above his boxer briefs. “Much as I’d love t’feel your tongue in my gills, i don’t want you t’get hurt shifting in here.”

“Just a few moments longer.” Hanzo nuzzled under his jaw and pressed a quick kiss to his stubble. “And next time I will do whatever you want me to with your gills, with any of you.”

“Damn,” Jesse laughed it off but the heat remained. He would have plenty to dream about until they were the same size again. “I’ll help you get out of the tank.”

Hanzo reluctantly crawled away onto the sand and Jesse let his eyes wander. “What do your tattoos mean?” he called from the shallows as Hanzo started to get dressed. The blue sparks were slowly growing brighter. “You got two of them.”

Hanzo’s looked up with his pants halfway on and then quickly looked away. “They are a type of magic.” Jesse fixated on the flex and ripple of Hanzo’s abs as he dragged his shirt on. “They are… a type of familiar enchantment.”

“Yeah? Like, they what gives you the umpf to do magic?” Jesse rested his weight on his elbow and stump, resting his chin in his hand. “Somethin’ about them look familiar. I met this fella once who had a big dragon one on his back.”

“They are a part of the burden of being one of the clan but I have made my peace with them.” Hanzo had gotten dressed and shimmered blue now, covered in bits of light. “I must leave now.”

“I know.” Jesse sighed around an uncomfortable prickle in his throat.

“We can talk more after I get us both a late snack.” 

Jesse’s heart lifted as the man jogged back to him and fell to his knees. Jesse surged up to meet him with a powerful sweep of his tail and his arms went around Hanzo’s shoulders. He dragged himself close and Hanzo sealed his lips with a fast, hard kiss. It left Jesse dizzy and burning with blue light that only faded when Hanzo ran for the edge of the tank.

He grabbed the low hanging power cord for the heat lamp and swung himself up and over with ease. It made Jesse ache to follow, even if he’d never been so graceful on his legs. The pain only increased as Hanzo shimmered and flared like a beacon. It scorched the ceiling and shone out the windows like sheets of white and Jesse had to look away.

When the light finally died and he could open his eyes again, the first thing he saw was Hanzo smiling from the side of the tank. He pressed a single fingertip to it and Jesse couldn’t help but swim to press his hand to it.

“I will treasure this night forever in my memory.” Hanzo’s voice was big and rumbling and it vibrated in Jesse’s bones. It was easy to believe and Jesse kissed the thick glass that separated them.

“Me too, sweetheart. More than you’ll ever know.”


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Fujo for sponsoring this chapter <3

Hanzo smiled as the sun kissed his face in the early morning and languidly stretched. He knew Jesse would be up as well and perhaps exploring the series of tubes all over the house. A simple enchantment on the lid of the tank would have unsealed it so his companion could explore.

Rolling on to his back, he grinned to see he had an audience after all. “Good morning, Jesse,” he purred and repeated his stretch. He arched and let the blanket slide down his chest to his hips. 

Jesse bubbled a happy greeting and darted back and forth in the section of pipe high on the wall. Hanzo watched the warm light sparkle off Jesse’s tail and shift to hot pink from the tube as it fell on the wall.

It was tempting to drift off as he watched the beautiful patterns if not for the distracting throb in his groin. More pressing than normal, his morning arousal continued to swell the longer Jesse watched him from high above.

Hanzo restlessly shifted his legs and clenched at the sheets. It had been almost three months since Jesse had first spoken and he had neglected himself during much of it. Memories of Jesse’s mouth on his fanned the heat in his belly. How warm and sweet their kisses had been and how hot desire flared when Jesse had teased with his inhuman tongue.

“I am going to shower, Jesse. Then perhaps we should eat breakfast in the backyard.” Hanzo tried to shift to hide the tent growing in his pants with his blanket. Jesse swam closer to the tank on Hanzo’s nightstand. He was a roguishly handsome as ever, a wide smile showing despite the size difference.

He waited patiently till Jesse had descended to the tank and popped his head above water. “Good mornin’, darlin’. You sleep well?” Jesse swam lazily to the shore and propped himself up on his good arm.

“Very.” Hanzo mirrored the position, head on his hand. His dick was hot and firm against his thigh and he tried his best to ignore it. “You are up and chiper as well.”

“Just happy, you know,” Jesse waved his tail lazily in the water. “After yesterday when we…”

“Kissed,” Hanzo finished, a blush rising to his cheeks. “I… have thought of it as well.” He pushed his hair out of his face with a yawn and tossed his attention to the spellbook on his desk. He touched the spine thoughtfully and an idea sprang up. There was someone who would understand and that could perhaps send them in the right direction.

Hanzo scooted to the edge of the bed and lowered his hand to Jesse. The merman quickly splashed into the cup of his fingers and grabbed on. Hanzo lifted him, not minding the dripping, and settled him on his bare chest. It tickled and excited as Jesse slithered higher to perch on the crest of his pec. 

His tail felt smooth as tiny scales rubbed against his skin and swiped haphazardly over his nipple as he got situated. “You’re always so nice and warm,” Jesse sighed and cuddled up over Hanzo’s heart.

“You could probably use more sunlight to warm up and perhaps some exercise,” Hanzo tentatively offered as he cupped Jesse’s back. 

“I’d love that. I liked your eating in the backyard idea. Could go for a swim with the koi and stretch a bit.”

Hanzo ran his finger tip down Jesse’s spine and along the smooth swoope of his tail. Light danced in the merman’s eyes and he leaned his head down to hesitantly press his lps to the man’s head. It was cool and wet and for a moment, Hanzo was afraid he’d made a mistake.

“THat’s nice, Han,” Jesse sighed and bunted his head hard against Hanzo’s mouth. It made him laugh and he quickly returned the gesture as gently as he could.

“Let’s go to the beach today. I know a small cove not far away with tide pools to explore.” Hanzo offered, pulling back just enough to see Jesse’s face. He was beaming like the sun and Hanzo laughed with Jesse slapped him repeatedly with his fin in excitement.

It didn’t take long to make a travel tank of sorts for Jesse and pack them a hearty breakfast of fruits and bread with a tub of butter and honey. A thermos of coffee went into the picnic basket and Hanzo threw in some boiled eggs before bundling it up.

Jesse watched eagerly from the kitchen sink. “Oh those are gonna be good. I’m starving darlin’. Can i get just a nibble of something to tide me over?”

“Hmm,” Hanzo pulled out a slice of orange and handed it over. It was easily as long as Jesse’s good arm and dwarfed the man. “Careful of the juice in your eyes.”

His warning was unwarranted either as Jesse ripped open the thin membrane to take a handful of the plump flesh. It was hard to see but he caught the flash of Jesse’s second eyelid closing to protect his sight from the acidity.

He chuckled as Jesse devoured the fruit in great gulps and juice ran down his chest and belly. It made him shiny in the morning light from the kitchen windows. “You’re a dirty, merman.” Hanzo teased, reaching over to nudge Jesse in the side. Not hard enough to push him off his little island in the middle of the sink but just enough to make Jesse grab on reflexively.

“Just dirty in the fun way right?” Jesse flashed a smile and Hanzo couldn’t stop himself from melting just a little bit more.

“Be glad orange and fish do not go well together or I might be tempted,” Hanzo smirked through the words and thew a wink at his tiny companion. He lifted his fingertip to his mouth, smelling the citrus and the slightly salty tang from Jesse’s skin. It tasted strange on his tongue as he slowly licked it clean before slurping it inside. 

A little groan rose from the merman and Jesse tossed himself into the water with a vibrant flash of his tail. He popped up with a grumbling huff and splashed water up at Hanzo despite his distance.

Hanzo relented and leaned down to rest his weight on his arms. His hair ribbon fell to float on the surface of the water and before he could pull it away, Jesse had it in hand. He tugged on it with surprising strength and Hanzo allowed himself to be pulled lower.

“You are gonna get it when the curse is broken,” Jesse rumbled and it sent a shiver down Hanzo’s spine straight to his dick. 

“I do not see much reason to wait till then.” Hanzo smirked at the red and flustered sputter Jesse gave in return to the idea. He would convince Jesse that he was wonderful and wanted in his true form. 

The idea still made his toes curl in desire. It was too much for jesse now and Hanzo pulled away. He would give it time while they searched for a way to break the curse and enjoyed the strange life they were making together.

“Let us go before the day gets to hot.” Hanzo tried to make his transition seem normal but Jesse still gave him a look he wasn’t sure how to respond too. The merman did swim into his hands when they were offered through and Hanzo carefully settled him in the two gallon jar and closed the lid.

Once they were settled in his car and Jesse’s tank was seatbelted in, he cracked the top so Jesse could get fresh air. It would still be a bit of an uncomfortable drive for him but Hanzo hoped the payoff would be worth it.

The radio filled the silence between them with warm, deep tones. It was comforting as Hanzo took the long back roads to the beach he had been to before. He had cleared it of the foil drowners and their nests for the local village and kept the memory of the small area for just such a day.

They had to park almost a mile away but it was still pleasant with a fresh breeze. Hanzo shouldered the picnic basket and looked at the heavy jug of water. He could carry it to the beach but the terrain was rough.

“It will take me a half hour to get us to the beach. Can you survive without water for that time without hurting yourself?” He murmured, ready to bear the heavy weight if needed.

“If you get your shirt nice and wet, i can rest against it with no problem.” Jesse splashed a few drops onto Hanzo’s shirt. It was refreshingly cool on his skin.

“Very well.” Hanzo was quick to scoop a handful of water up and douse himself. It made the white fabric of his shirt half transparent and he was glad no one else was around. “Just… inside the shirt?”

“I’ll get settled in fine,” Jesse nodded and raised his arms.

Hanzo took the invitation to wrap his fingers around the man’s chest and lift him free of the jug. Jesse wiggled his tail and flashed gold and red like gems. Bits of light were thrown into his eyes and he had to close his eyes for a moment. 

He hooked a finger into the neck of his shirt and peeled it away. They managed to get Jesse inside the wet confines with the hem tucked under his armpits. It was too precarious for Hanzo’s taste and he pulled his hair ribbon free. He looped it across his chest and the base of his throat to make a sling of sorts.

“Now this is nice. Got myself a little hammock now,” Jesse hummed as he wriggled into place. “I’m ready when you are darlin.”

Hanzo smiled down at his companion before shouldering the picnic basket and heading off into the sparse and sandy terrain.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Joseph for this chapter! <3

Sweat dripped down Hanzo’s face as he hiked down the long, rocky trail to the beach. The sun burned against his back but it was worth it to hear Jesse getting more and more excited. The tiny merman wriggled in the makeshift sling over Hanzo’s chest.

“I can’t wait to be back in the ocean.”

“It is close to where you came from?” Hanzo huffed out as he jumped from rock to rock down a steep hill. 

“Not too far from here, i think at least?” Jesse’s tail slapped against Hanzo’s chest, right over his heart. “Things got kinda… weird when the curse happened. I’ve seen this shore before. I know I have.”

“Maybe things will be clearer once you are in the saltwater?” Hanzo cupped Jesse tighter to his chest before leaping into the open air. His stomach swooped and his heart fluttered before he landed with a bounce on the warm sand.

Tall grass waved gently in the breeze on the dunes. The sand shifted under his feet and he took to the more stabilized land. The ocean was a silver of silvery green spreading out forever towards the horizon.

“We’re almost there.” Hanzo adjusted Jesse so that he was high enough to see out.

“It’s… beautiful.” Jesse’s voice cracked and tumbled to a rocky landing. “I can hear the song, i can feel it.”

“We’re almost there,” Hanzo picked up his feet and ran for the shore. The water splashed and danced with sparkling light. It welcomed them closer. The tide was out and a myriad of pools shimmered safe from the wild current of the open ocean.

Hanzo fell to his knees in front of the closest one. Sea life wriggled through the clear water from delicate plants to the scuttling of tiny creatures. There was nothing big enough to hurt Jesse, at least not that he could sense and he lowered the merman into the water.

 

-

 

Jesse hollered wild and free as he dove into the water with barely a splash. A sharp wave of his tail and he zoomed down to the bottom of the pool. Wings of sand burst around him as he dipped his finger tips into the bottom of the pool. It stirred up the scents and he took a greedy breath. His gills fluttered and expanded to take it all in.

Diving to the bottom, he raced through the water. Each little cave he darted into to explore and taste the fresh sea water. He nabbed a minnow and crunched through it with a satisfied smile. He darted down a tunnel and popped out in another tidal pool. He dove to rub his belly and tail against the sand. 

Dead scales and bits of artificial sand slide off. Jesse wriggled into the bed, almost covering himself. It was filled with the minerals and salt of the sea. Of a place near his birth that he had been missing for so long.

He could taste the far off waves that lapped against coral reefs and spiralling palaces carved from the bones of the ancient sea gods. His own little cave tucked away in a remote outcropping of stone where the predators wouldn’t bother to look.

The call reverberated in Jesse’s bones and he turned to stare. His gaze went passed the tidal pools walls and through the hundreds of connecting tunnels and caves to the wide open ocean. Swirling passed wrecked ships and schools of fish to where he had once made his home.

A shadow flashed across him and Jesse dove for the cover of a rock overhang. A razor sharp beak cut through the water where he had been and darted away with only sand for its efforts.

That was different than before. He had once been enough to scare off most creatures and patrol his territory with ease. Pain lanced through his left hand and up his arm. He clutched at the missing limb and curled forward around the pain.

The witch had taken this from him too.

His jaw throbbed as he clenched his teeth and he lashed out. The end of his arm caught on the rock and blood flowed, he ripped into the stump with his teeth. It taste was foul like sulfur and greasy as black either. He was not made to be left unwhole. He was part of the sea. Part of the waves and a the being birthed in the heat of the underwater volcanoes.

Jesse roared and the water around him churned. He sucked in the song of his home and it bellowed from inside him out. Scales burst out of the bloody stump and raced down over a framework of magic. It seared and burned the water. Blinding light turned the tidal pool into a shimmering haze but Jesse watched, chest thundering in time to the beat of life.

Thousands of tiny scales built upon themselves, thickening as his arm was created of the magic his people all controlled. Red and gold, they flashed and swirled as his wrist was created and then his hand. It burned as nerves connected and white energy slashed across him. He bucked and rolled, clutching at the water, the sand, the seaweed.

It ended with a flash of golden light and Jesse collapsed on the bottom of the tidal pool. Chest heaving, Jesse blinked spots out of his eyes. They formed strange patterns, like veins branching out and the willowy billow of soft fins. 

Jesse raised his left hand up to his face. It was not like his right. It was different. Heavy claws extended from his fingertips and armored plating of thick wide scales fanned around his forearm. He scratched it with a nearby shard of rock and laughed as it bounced off. He flexed his new hand before slashing at the coral next to him.

Chunks fell to the floor, perfectly sliced from the formation. He hummed to the sea’s tune as he picked up the pieces and ran his real hand over it. The slight kerf marks confirmed that it had been sliced and he shifted to touch the new claws. 

He was whole again.

Tiny.

But fully himself for the first time in… he wasn’t sure how long he had been this way. Now that he was in the sea, everything was fresh and clear and real in a way that cast the past in muted tones.

The scent of a hermit crab caught his attention and he veered to hunt into the dense vegetation. The thrill of the hunt burned in his lungs and he charged after the new freedom. He could balance and turn easily, no longer slowed down and twisted by unequal power. The crab was near. In another pool and he darted into a narrow tunnel. He reveled in the speed. Nothing was like the water’s embrace as it slide past his powerful shoulders and tail.

Fins expanded to slow him as he circled for the spot where a tasty little treat had disappeared. His fangs pushed out further and his jaw unhinged in preparation. He would feast and reclaim his position of power in this tiny terrain.

“Jesse?”

The merman looked up, through the waving green fronds and through the bubbling water to the surface. Hanzo’s distorted face hovered near the edge of the tidal pool. Eyebrows bunched and drawn over his nose, mouth a sharp frown and hand in the water.

His darling Hanzo was worried. He couldn’t let that stand.

He kicked off the bottom with his tail and launched himself to fresh air. “Hanzo!” he laughed, waving his arms. “Hanzo, I’m right here.”

Hanzo cursed sharply in japanese and all the tension went out of his companion’s face and the man crumpled to rest both hands inside the water. The sprig of his bangs floated over the surface and a shaky laugh bubbled out.

“Are you… Hanzo, are you okay?” Jesse kept himself up with his tail and reached out to touch Hanzo’s forearm. He pet over the dragon tattoo there, looking up at the man who had done so much for him. The bloodlust fell away and was replaced with concern.

“I couldn’t find you and I saw the heron dive--”

A tear splashed into the water and ripples flooded out to knock gently on Jesse’s side. “I am just… i feared this would be too dangerous.”

Jesse cooed softly, humming aimlessly as he stroked Hanzo’s forearm. He was careful of his new armored hand. “I’m not gonna get caught by some bird. Definitely not with this.” He held up his arm, spreading his hand to show off the shimmering red.

“How?” 

“This is my type of magic, darlin’. And the Witch had better watch her back.”


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks Lady for the ko-fis for this chapter!

“Do you want this one as well?” Hanzo asked, holding up a mystery novel. There were already several books stacked on his desk in front of him and a set of dishes, three towels, a comb and a shaving razor, handheld mirror and some shaving foam.

“Hmm, nah, i’ll go for the romance novel. I got enough mysteries.” Jesse rolled languidly in the shallow pie tin on Hanzo’s desk. “And i was thinking, if you had a picture of yourself…”

“But you see me every day?” Hanzo chuckled, wondering if he even had a recent photograph of himself. He definitely didn’t have one printed out. 

“Not the same. You’re… all different from way down here.”

“Ah the perspective?” Hanzo nodded and reached over to write himself a note. He could get one printed in town next time he went out to get supplies. “I will get one printed along with the others.”

“Thanks, Darlin’,” Jesse cooed and slapped his tail to the surface of the water. 

Little droplets colored the desk and Hanzo absently wiped them up with the edge of his sleeve. “I am surprised you picked a romance book for me to pick up.” Hanzo tried to keep his voice smooth, nonchalant but he remembered the burn of Jesse’s body under him. How sweetly he had kissed and the delicious scratch of his beard against his mouth.

“Just cuz i’m tiny don’t mean I don’t got… urges still.” Jesse huffed and when Hanzo looked, he twisted to hide his face. “I… it’s getting close to mating season.”

 

Desire flared to life, hot and needy and low in Hanzo gut like a firm stroke along his cock. His throat filled with a thousand questions and he had to swallow them down, buying himself a moment to think. It was hard to gather his thoughts as the words raced by on repeat.

“I did not know you had… a mating season.” Hanzo spoke carefully, hands still on the edge of the desk. 

“It ain’t like… like animals but…” Jesse restlessly stirred and the water lapped at the edges of the dish. Hanzo kept his eyes on pile of soon to be shrunk items. “Shit, its like an itch you can’t scratch. I ain’t had them before while i was tiny. I don’t think I was healthy enough for one of them to catch up to me. Now I got a chance t’be in the sea, taste the currents and feel the rhythms…”

Hanzo leaned back in his chair, face flushed and body clenching greedily at nothing. He rubbed his face, trying to ground himself. “I will provide whatever you may need during that time.” He cast about for something to fill the silence and his eyes fell to one of the toys Jesse normally spent wrestling with and wriggling through the hole in its center. 

 

There were of course plenty of human toys in the house. Most living inside the chest at the foot of hanzo’s bed gathering dust from disuse. He would need to get batteries. A few were waterproof and might survive the magic of shrinking.  _ You could help him. _ Hanzo gulped at the thought of riding Jesse, of explore the little pink slit he’d only ever caught a glimpse of.

“Shit… i shouldn’t have brought it up.” Jesse sighed and flopped down in the water till it covered his head. The slits on his neck and ribs opened with a gush of bubbles and Hanzo couldn’t stop himself from dipping a finger into the warm water. 

He stroked along Jesse’s side and up along the soft fronds of his gills to nudge his chest. The merman opened his eyes, behind a protective layer of flesh, and reached up to hold onto Hanzo’s digit.

The new scaled and clawed hand felt strange, stronger than it had any right to be and deadly. Jesse was gentle with him though, stroking along the groove where nail disappeared into the flesh on the side. He tugged and Hanzo let his hand be guided.

Jesse mouthed at his skin, little nuzzles and licks that sent shivers along Hanzo’s spine. Jesse’s long, nimble tongue trailed over the grooves and ridges of his fingerprint. A nibbling bite followed it and Hanzo laughed.

“You better be careful with those teeth.”

Hanzo bumped his index fingertip into Jesse’s face with care before trying to with draw it. Both hands caught around his digit and firmly pressed it to the merman’s stomach instead. A smirk curled over Hanzo’s mouth.

 

He pet along Jesse’s sternum and low over his belly and lower. His touch was light, barely brushing the smooth skin and silky scales that flashed red and gold. The desk lamp threw diamonds and shimmering rubies over the merman’s tail and fins as he preened.

“You are beautiful, Jesse.”

Jesse didn’t answer but his smile was reply enough. A wide and wicked thing with too many teeth and his tongue slipped out to lick at a bubble stuck to his cheek. Hanzo chuckled and dragged his fingertip down Jesse’s full length.

A shocked gasp broke the surface of the water as the tiny merman curled violently inward, tail flashing up and fanning out. Hanzo yanked his hand away, flinging water everywhere. “Jesse?”

The merman slowly uncurled, body going limp in the water for a second before the man laughed. The sound was a relief and Hanzo slumped forward in his chair as Jesse sat up. “Shit…” his face was flushed and the muscles of his abs rippled with each breath. 

A sliver of pink peeked out from the riot of crimson and gold scales down Jesse’s front. “Sorry…” the word was full of remorse and despondent.

The fire went out in Hanzo’s belly and he frowned down at his companion. “There is nothing to apologize for.”

“If only I could turn human…” Jesse dragged both hands down his face and curled forward to hide himself. “I’d at least be kissing you right now.”

“You could be kissing me now.” Hanzo looked at the small packet of shrinking powder. They could do it again. It hadn’t even hurt, turning small for a few hours.

 

“I would like a better look at your arm as well. I have never seen such reconstructive magic.” It was true, even if it was flimsy excuse to get close to Jesse again. 

They clock was running out on their time together. Even if Jesse wouldn’t acknowledge it, they would have to part. A merman couldn’t live on land forever in human form and he couldn’t follow Jesse into the ocean. Even if he gave the Witch of the Waste everything she wanted from him and more, a potion couldn’t last forever and his human form would be a liability in the dangerous expanse of the sea.

“You sure it won’t hurt you? Long run i mean,” Jesse looked up hopefully and Hanzo had to still his heart from leaping in his chest. 

“I am not sure.” Hanzo stroked his short trimmed beard, thinking back to what his brother had told him of the spell. It was not the type of magic found commonly in the world though there were similar, weaker charms and talisman that could transform shape. “I believe limited use would not bring lasting harm.”

“I just wanna be close to you.”

Hanzo’s eyes widened and he stared down at the merman. A flush of affection spun his head and he leaned down. Bumping his nose against Jesse earned him a laugh and a teasing pet. The clawed had was cool and smooth as Jesse’s tail and when Hanzo found his nose tip cupped in both hands, he couldn’t help but smile.

“If you desire to be close, perhaps we should retire to the bathtub?” Hanzo spoke carefully, not wanting to jostle his companion. Jesse leaned in to kiss his nose tip with a wet and cold press of lips to skin.

  
  



	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks Lady for the Snacks! <3  
> \--  
> and finally all caught up. Sorry for the long gap between chapters and then all of it at once. Life has been especially crazy lately and finding time to write and energy has been difficult.

Jesse rumbled low in his throat, watching the fabric of Hanzo’s shirt shift and tug across his chest. It was one of the benefits of being tiny and constantly cupped to it. He reached out and trailed a hand along the swell of one pec. 

Hanzo’s nipple was half hard, poking against the cotton shirt without forming a stiff peak. He casually brushed his hand along it and delighted the startled grunt it got him. “Looks like you’re cold. We better get in that hot bath soon.”

“You little devil.” Hanzo’s laugh was music to his ears.

“Not for long hopefully,” Jesse teased, leaning over the edge of Hanzo’s fingers to watch their journey. Hanzo made short work of the climb up the stairs and into the bathroom. It was just as quaint and cozy as the last time but there was no mute panic or fear.

“You gonna wear trunks again?” Jesse flashed his best predator grin up at Hanzo.

“I need to fetch them and a few of your enrichment toys.”

Red was high on the human’s cheeks. It was too handsome and Jesse longed to kiss the feverish skin. Instead he went into the tub and he dragged himself towards the faucet.

“Be careful.”

He waved off Hanzo’s caution as the tap started in a gush of cool water. He thrust his head into the torrent and let it hammer around him. Better than a waterfall, he slowly lay down in the strongest current and let it massage his back. The tub began to fill, fast for him and slow for hanzo and soon he was savoring the flutter of water through his gills. 

It was different than his home waters and little bubbles clung to his skin from the aridded stream. He rolled himself onto his back, letting the water drum on his chest and belly and keep him pressed to the bottom of the tub.

The surface of the water rolled and bubbled above him, distorting the ceiling and navy blue shower curtain. A patch of cream appeared above, crowned with inky darkness and bisected by gold.

Jesse pushed up, struggling for a moment to get out from under the hammering water. He flipped his tail and pushed out and wriggled around. Popping his head above the surface, he waved at Hanzo.

A low whistle of appreciation escaped his lips and he eyed the mountain of a man. The speedo was a vast improvement from swim trunks and the gold scale pattern stroked something viciously primal inside him. The bulge starting inside the glittery fabric had his mouth watering.

“I am getting in now.” Hanzo chuckled and stepped into the water but not before twisting to show off his powerful chest and back. Strong bands of muscles rippled and flexed as he lowered himself into the warmth.

Jesse kept near the faucet while the man got situated, riding out the waves of displaced water. Hanzo’s foot pushed for him and he followed it with interest. He had always enjoyed human feet and their wiggly toes. He left his staring at Hanzo’s impressive mass to swim along his ankle.

Even with their differences in size, Hanzo’s ankles struck Jesse as rather delicate. He ran his finger tips along the bit of bone on the inside and down to the pink sole. Jesse ignored the ripple of conversation above the water and pressed up against Hanzo’s foot. He fit himself between his big toe and second, wriggling through the tight valley. 

It was pleasing on his scales and he repeated the gesture before settling to inspect the pretty plump flesh of the pads of his toes. He leaned into scrub one despite it’s clean appearance. The digits as long as his chest twitched and jerked and Hanzo’s laugh sent the water sloshing.

Jesse lazily teased the sensitive skin with his fingertips and dipping his arms between each toe. Hanzo twitched and writhed in the water but not enough to throw him off. He continued his torture for another few seconds before releasing his hold.

He skimmed along Hanzo’s hairy shin before settling himself firmly against it. The hair was wiry and thick like coiling reeds or fronds. He curled his tail tighter and undulated to scratch his scales. Low croons of pleasure welled up and bubbled out as he rolled his hips to thrust against the slope of Hanzo’s knee cap.

He watched the man’s bulge through the shifting water, seeing how it strained against the fabric and his mouth watered. He was going to devour this human the second he could and welcome that interesting cock into his slit.

Some of the self consciousness of being in his true form was lost as the haze of happiness clouded him. He was safe and wanted and it didn’t take long for Hanzo to break. The massive human reached down and hooked him around the waist between his thumb and forefinger.

“Howdy, Darlin’,” Jesse crooned with a smirk.

“You have no sense of personal space.” Hanzo chided but the pink on his cheeks betrayed the tease. “And I fear I will accidently hurt you if you continue to tickle me so viciously.”

“Aw shucks,” Jesse snapped his fingers and wriggled to better hold his weight. He braced both hands on his companion’s finger and arched his back. Flaring his tail, he showed off all the beautiful patterns of his scales and the wide fan that promised a powerful swimmer. “Guess if you beg.”

Jesse laughed as Hanzo deadpanned at him.

“Okay, okay,” Jesse let himself relax in Hanzo’s hold, even as he was brought up to his face. “Guess I shouldn’t tease you too much.”

“You are welcome to tease me.” Jesse curled in on himself as Hanzo’s warm breath brushed his skin and his lips pressed in close. He could reach out and grab a fistful of whiskers or the curve of his mouth. “Unless you are ready to face my revenge.”

“Oh I am so scared,” Jesse chuckled. The sound cut off as warmth and pressure flooded his senses. Hanzo’s mouth was so soft against his chest but easily pushed him flush to the hand holding him. 

A long slow kiss left him breathless, flushed ruddy and tossing restlessly for more. He whined when Hanzo pulled away and reached out to stop him.

”Come back.” Jesse grumbled and Hanzo complied. Jesse pressed his hands to Hanzo’s bottom lip, squeezing it and massaging the flesh. “Can’t get away without me returning the kiss.” He leaned down to nibble at the lip and gave it a wet, open mouthed kiss. “In the right spot now.”

Hanzo lowered him to the water, near the beach of his chest. Jesse took a moment to appreciate it before sliding higher up. He cuddled up to the dusky pink nipple just above the water’s surface.

“Jesse…”

“Yes, Darlin’?” Jesse teased, looking up innocently at his Hanzo. 

“Nothing.” Hanzo shook his head and reached up to cup Jesse’s tail. It was a tight and gentle tunnel to grind himself along. The calluses and scars of his hand caught and tugged and rubbed against him in all the right way.

He lowered his head, nuzzling at the little treasure. It wouldn’t even fit in his hand, only barely to get half of it in his long fingers. He squeezed and tugged and to his delight, Hanzo’s chest hitched and expanded with a hard breath.

Jesse stole a glance down Hanzo’s torso, eating up the quick twitch of his abs and the restlessness of his hips. The scales were distended with the size of his bulge and Jesse knew he would be able to taste the faint bitterness of his seed if he took a breath beneath the surface. 

Hanzo’s fingers stroked down his back and up to the top of his head. It repeated again and again, pressing harder at where his hips merged with his tail. Jesse groaned, fighting with the instinctual softening of his slit.

“Hanzo… your skin is so smooth.” He whined as Hanzo used his blunt nail to dig against the base of his tail and down his back. He arched up, twisting to get more friction on the slippery plane of Hanzo’s pec.

He held the man’s nipple close, grinding it between his hands and fighting with the urge thrumming in his veins. He thrust against it, gasping for air, gills wide open as he worked the softening flesh around his slit. 

“That’s it, Jesse. Keep going.”

Hanzo’s eyes were half lidded, heavy with intent and glassy with desire. 

 


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank PunkB1rd, Bimunnity for the ko-fis!

Jesse panted as pleasure coiled higher in his belly. Twisting and turning, he ground his softening slit over Hanzo’s nippple. It was hot and firm beneath him. The point of friction consumed him, eyes glassy as he stared up at Hanzo’s face. Sweat dripped down and dropped from his jaw.

Hanzo stroked a finger up and down Jesse’s spine, settling at the curve of his tail. Jesse clenched his teeth around a moan as his fins flared and frilled up. Hanzo kept grinding him tighter, pressing him against the perky bud of his nipple. 

“Never done this before,” he grunted and reached down to feel himself. Slick spread from the opening and lubed the tight press. Jesse spread his fingers, trying to force the wet, eager head of his cock back inside. He didn’t want to let Hanzo feel it. He didn’t want Hanzo to know just how strange and inhuman he was at his core.

“You have not ground on a human’s nipple since you’ve been cursed to be tiny?” Hanzo’s laugh sent him bobbing. The tender hand on his back and tail kept him in place for the most part. 

Jesse tried to right himself, ending up half pinned on his side instead. He covered his long slit, pressing the heel of his hand into the slippery cock seeking a mate. It hurt and sent him shivering in equal measure.

“I guess you’re my first… nipple cock?” A laugh punched out of Jesse and he shook his head. He tried to casually turn his hips down despite the leveity.

“I am honored.” Hanzo purred, flashing a predator smile down at him. “Perhaps there is no need to wait until your curse is broken to enjoy each other’s company.”

“Hardly anything i can do for you though, Darlin’,” Jesse whined, ignoring the prods of his cock and the wet hot slick drooling out. “Being tiny and… not human.”

Hanzo groaned, head tilting back and mouth parting and Jesse watched every muscle flex and clench in his jaw. His adam’s apple bobbed hard, dancing in his throat. Jesse used a moment of his loosened grip to roll onto his belly. He pulled his sticky hand back and planted it on Hanzo’s warm skin.

“I wish I could take you for a ride.” Hanzo’s voice was low and rough and his eyes burned like beacons in the dark. “I would have you inside and savor every little bit of surprises.”

“You don’t mean that.” Jesse shook his head, trying to imagine any human that would look at his cock and not shudder in horror. He’d never heard of a mermaid or merman being able to be with a human in their true form.

“I do,” Hanzo rumbled down at him. 

“You don’t if you saw it.” Jesse bit back a whimper as his cock found the bud of Hanzo’s nipple and the little, flexible tendrils began to explore. 

“Show me.” The words were a plea, needy and eager and so good Jesse almost choked on the gush of pleasure. “I want to see you, just as you are.”

“Jesse, can I look at you?” Hanzo crooned and Jesse tensed at the twitch of the man’s fingers around his waist and hips. 

The ‘no’ was on his lips, fear and shame bubbling up but when Jesse met Hanzo’s eyes, it was washed away. There was nothing but excitement on the man’s face. Eyes bright and shining, teeth dug into his bottom lip and a flush darkening his cheeks.

“Alright, darlin’.” Jesse forced himself to relax and take his hands away from himself. Heat burned in his chest, a bright fluttering thing as Hanzo slowly pulled him away from his skin. The air was chilling on his cock and it drew back instinctually at the lack of a mate’s warmth.

“Shy?” Hanzo cooed and Jesse swallowed hard as the man’s tongue swept across his bottom lip.

“Just cold.”

They shared a knowing look and both laughed. It eased the fear and Jesse postured a little. He was not making a mating display but he pushed his chest out and tilted his hips forward to show off the barely open slit.

“May I?” Hanzo paused with a finger just above Jesse’s groin and he nodded. Hanzo hadn’t freaked out yet but there was always a chance. The fear was banished with the rest as Hanzo gently stroke over his slit. 

Jesse moaned and bared his teeth around a hiss of excitement. Hanzo’s blunt pressure felt like the coiling of a tail up against him. It spoke to the raw, primitive part of his brain and slick gushed out.

“Sorry,” Jesse groaned, eyes half lidded. He tracked every second of Hanzo’s movement as he raised his wet finger to his lips. “Fuck.” Jesse shuddered and arched as Hanzo lapped up the salty lubricant.

“Tasty,” Hanzo purred and Jesse barely had time to brace before the finger was back. Each little ridge in the fingerprint caught and tugged against his slit. His arms gave out and he fell back into the nest of Hanzo’s fingers.

A soft swirl of the fingertip had him gasping and bucking up into it for more. His cock nudged past the flushed pink and above the valley of his slit. Hanzo’s touch shifted, even softer, sweeter until only the head was stroked.

The tendrils spread and grabbed eagerly at it and Jesse’s head fell forward to rest on his chest. It had been years since he’d been touched by another being. It rushed hot and fast in his blood and he held onto Hanzo blindly.

His cock pushed up and sought the pressure, the heat of another body. There was no slit to find and pull open but the brush of his fingerprint made his eyes roll back. Hanzo nudged it higher, guiding it to feel up his thumbnail.

“Beautiful,” Hanzo’s breath was wet and hot against him. “So big.”

Jesse laughed, heartbeat so loud in his ears he swore he could hear the ocean.

He looked down his body as Hanzo circled his thumb and watched as his cock sought out exactly what it wanted. There was no hiding the flush of his skin and the quick clenching of his abs. The flash of his scales made him proud and he fanned his tail, showing off for his mate.

“When I’m back at m’real size, it’ll be even bigger.” Jesse braced his weight on his elbows and lifting his hips high to grind into Hanzo’s finger. Little shockwaves burst in his groin and slick kept the grind of flesh easy and delicious.

“I want to taste you.” Hanzo’s breath hitched and his face contorted. “And touch myself.”

Jesse blinked, his hazy mind taking a moment to catch up. A fierce red flooded over his body and he clenched to keep from coming at the thought. “Yes, please.”

 

The world rushed past as he was lifted high and brought to Hanzo’s mouth. He grunted at the wet press of his lips and his cock eagerly shoved into the seal of his lips. He curled forward, thrusting into the plump confines.

Water splashing below him made him smile and Hanzo’s breath sped up. Each gust shocking down Jesse’s shoulders and back and he crooned low in his throat. He wanted to see Hanzo gripping his fat cock, stroking hard and fast in the shallow bath water but he lost all sense of the outside world.

His focus spiraled recklessly to the wet, hot press of Hanzo’s tongue tip against his cock. It prodded and greedily twined with him and Jesse grunted with his head thrown back. 

Words caught in his throat, a needy cry for more but all that came out was a thunderous growl. Hanzo’s tongue thrust under his cock and down and Jesse bucked to force the tip across the swelling knot. He teetered on the edge as Hanzo grunted and moaned, hand working furiously and scattering water over the edge of the tub.

“Hanzo-” He cut off with a strangled cry and couldn’t help himself. He plunged two fingers into the tight flesh of his slit and hooked down. His hole was open and sobbing slick, just begging to be fucked. Jesse forced two fingers inside and stretched them wide. His cock slapped his wrist as Hanzo swirled his tongue down in smaller and smaller circles.

He fucked into his fingers, adding a third and then Hanzo’s lips closed over his cock.

White hot pleasure spiked out from the joining of their bodies and overtook everything else in the world. His knot swelled fat and hard to lock him together and hanzo pressed his lips down around it. 

Jesse came with a desperate shout and thick loads of pearlescent, shimmering cum poured out of him till he crumpled into Hanzo’s palm. It dripped off the man’s mouth even as his tongue scooped the massive load up. Jesse watched it slide off a his goatee and fall with a heavy splat on his own tail.

He barely managed to drag himself to the edge of Hanzo’s hand and turn to look down.

“I want you to fuck me with that monster.”


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks Fujo for sponsoring this chapter! <3

Hanzo grunted, pleasure rippling down his spine and curling tight and hot in his groin. He was close, the taste of Jesse’s cum on his lips and the merman watching him stroke himself was almost too much. If only he could bury himself inside that pretty pink slit and thrust deep. It would be so wet, dripping slick and welcoming.

“That’s it baby, fuck your hand real nice like,” Jesse crooned, his voice rough from crying out in pleasure. It stroked Hanzo as well as his hand and he melted into the pleasure. Knowing Jesse watched, licking his lips and drooling at the thought of being filled up made him grit his teeth. He was close, fist moving quickly in the water around his fat cock. He dripped into the bath, undoing any attempt to actually get clean.

He lowered Jesse into the water, hand still supporting him. The merman dashed off his palm and he stopped for a moment. “Careful,” he warned, watching the man circle his cock and balls like a shark in the water. Tiny hands fisted in the sensitive flesh of his balls, kneading at them and curling tight to wrap his tail around them. The band of his speedo was hooked beneath them, raising his cock like a ship’s mast.

“You’re beautiful, Darlin’,” Jesse crooned and it made Hanzo shiver to his toes. “Look at this big pretty dick. Just the peachiest, prettiest thing I ever did see. It’s so warm.”

Hanzo’s head fell forward, breathing hard as pleasure sang through him. The coil of bliss strung out and stretched at a breakpoint. Jesse murmuring praise and rubbing his thick tail in the crease between his balls and member sent him suddenly over the edge. He bucked off the bottom of the tub, feet slipping on the porcelain as he thrust into his hand. He snarled, voice falling into black velvet tones as the coil inside finally snapped.

Thick ropes of cum shot over the tiny merman and splattered into the water. Waves rocked the tub as he twitched and thrust into the fading crest before finally collapsing back. The tub was cool on his feverish skin and he rested his cheek against it briefly.

“That’s it darlin,” Jesse rumbled, lazily beaching himself on Hanzo’s thigh. He shivered and the muscles beneath Jesse twitched. It was almost too much, being touched so close to his softening dick.

“I made a mess.” hanzo couldn’t stop the smile on his face, despite the uncomfortable knowledge he was now sitting in his own spend. Jesse didn’t seem to mind though, waving his tail gently in the water. “Do you want me to refill the tub with clean water?”

Jesse blinked up at him, the second set of lids flashing for a moment. “I like how you taste. I don’t mind it.”

Hanzo’s breath shortened to see Jesse dunk his head back under the water and he imagined he could see his gills frill open and closed as he breathed. The filthy nature sent an electric shock down his spine and his toes curled.

A bead of cum ran down his length and plopped fatly into the water. It sent little ripples out that distorted Jesse’s form beneath the surface. He dove after the drop and hanzo struggled to breath. It was the size of the merman’s fist and he wondered with a hot shudder if Jesse could see the individual sperm wriggling excitedly towards an egg they would never find.

A gusty breath rocked him as Jesse opened his jaws wide and slurped the creamy white out of the water in a rush of bubbles. His cock made a valiant effort to rally and he had to look away. They could spend the whole day in the tub but he had other desires as well.

“Tasty,” Jesse chuckled the words as he pushed his head above the water. It sluiced off his hair and skin as he came to rest against Hanzo’s knee. “That was…”

“Perfect.” The word came out a sigh and hanzo was quick to reach for his companion. “I just wish i could have been your size. That we could have…”

“I know…”

They sat for a moment, the water cooling off and neither ready to talk about what they had done and what it might mean for the future. Hanzo didn’t want to think about losing Jesse. It had been hard enough to bare the thought before he’d just caught a glimpse of bliss.

They were right back where they started that morning.

“How does your arm feel?” hanzo murmured, voice only a little stiff from holding in things best left unsaid.

“Feels like it’s my own flesh and blood again.” Jesse raised his red, armored left arm. He twisted it this way and that. “But stronger somehow. Like I could rip through coral, if i was my normal size. That Witch ain’t gonna know what hit her.”

Hanzo chuckled at the fierce little merman as he unplugged the drain.

-

It wasn’t long before they were both cleaned up and Hanzo was dressed for the day. Back at his little table with Jesse resting in a shallow pie tin full of water and a few minnows to snack on, Hanzo’s mind was clearer.

“I think I have most of what you need,” He adjusted the haphazard pile of his own belongs into a tighter circle. The chalk outline was crisp and sharp, just barely holding everything. “I will pick up a few more books when I am in town and things in case your heat comes.”

Jesse laughed at that and Hanzo looked down in time to see him covering his eyes with both hands. “Don’t remind me, darlin’. I’m gonna be an embarrassing mess.”

“Is it… that intense?” Hanzo kept his hands busy with the spell book before him. The blue ink seemed to dance before his eyes, blurring with greens and waving fronds of seaweed. The illustrations almost looked alive before he blinked hard to clear his vision.

“I’ll be half outta my mind in the worst of it.” Jesse groaned and a splash signaled a slap of his tail on the water. “Maybe you should start starvin’ me again so it won’t happen. It seemed to work in the past. I ain’t looking forward to it.”

“Would you spend it with a mate before?” Hanzo kept his voice carefully casual, just the slightest bit of interest in the curl of words.

“Never t’make a family. A few times when I was young and dumb, i fooled around during them. Most of us that are single when it hits just isolate. Somewhere dark and private and far enough out of the way our scent in the water won’t give us away. It’s fucking miserable.”

Hanzo nodded as if he could really understand what it might be like to go into heat. It was a problem he guilty hoped they might have to deal with before breaking the curse. If only to make memories of twining so deep and intimately that his heart would believe he could have what he wanted.

“I will bring you some toys. You will not have to suffer without any stimulation.” Hanzo carefully marked it down on his list of materials to pick up. A run to the grocery store was in order sooner rather than later.

“I’d rather have you in the tank... wish it would be safe but i don’t know just how bad it’s gonna be. If i could only remember why I got cursed in the first place, maybe we would have a better chance of breaking it.”

 _If we kill the witch, the spell will break_ Hanzo tried to push the intrusive thought away but it beat against the inside of his skull. It was not the first time he had considered facing the witch directly. They had even discussed it but it was too danger. To take her on in her town territory would be risking everything.

The silver sword resting above his workstation began to hum with his intent. He had not slayed a big kill in months. He had never faced anything in the depths of the ocean. How did you slay something if you couldn’t breathe or see in the dark, salty depths?

The pages of the book began to rustle beneath his fingertips and he looked down dragons hummed beneath his skin, surging down to his wrists in rivers of glowing blue ink. They purred approval at the idea of a fight, as deadly as it would be.

“I have a spell… that would allow me to breath underwater for several hours.” He began carefully, measuring his words against the surprise on Jesse’s face. “Do you remember the way to her lair?”


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks Joseph for sponsoring this chapter!

The Witch of the Waste’s shop was as cluttered and dark as ever. It still sent a chill down Hanzo’s spine as he walked between towering, overburdened shelves and dug through boxes caked in dust. The Killer Whale potion was not something easily constructed and he did not want to leave Jesse long enough to undertake hunting down the ingredients himself.

 

The Witch was at the counter as always, pouring over a massive ledger book. She looked up and caught him. He quickly lowered his gaze respectfully and returned to his searching. Much had changed in the months since he had found Jesse in a feted tank shoved into one of those very shelves and yet it was the same.

 

Oppressive attention made it hard to breathe. The Witch’s presence like static, like vile honey that clung to the insides of his lungs. He prayed she had not somehow learned that his brother was still alive. Surely the magic spell that Genji had made to shrink Jesse’s things had not left an aura on him. 

 

Genji would not be so careless in matters of the Witch. 

 

Hanzo grimaced as he pulled a sealed packet of buckthorn from the bottom of a pile of haphazardly stacked herb sachets. He needed six of the foul smelling plant. The paper was old and brittle and he feared the stench if he broke one open. The Witch would not take kindly to such indiscretions. 

 

“Making a potion today, how curious.”

 

Hanzo flinched as the creature appeared at his side without making a sound. Her blonde hair glowed despite the dimness of the shop. 

 

“Yes. Thank you for allowing me to enter your premises.” He kept his face blank, voice steady, hands still.

 

“And how do you expect to pay for your… items.” She flicked the waxed paper of the packets and Hanzo barely kept from yanking them away.

 

“Gold. Just gold.” Hanzo kept his eyes away from her face.

 

“Nothing more interesting like...information?” She was too close, the scent of ozone suddenly overwhelming. The hairs burned away his nose as he took a short breath. “I hear there is something… brewing in the air these days. Something that might have something to do with a dear friend of mine.”

 

Hanzo couldn’t breath, not even a sip of air would enter his lungs.

 

_ She can’t know. She can’t know about Jesse’s witch.  _

 

The Witch of the Wastes touched his wrist and he yelped. White hot pain seared through him and the dragons roared. Dust fell around them as the building shook and trembled on it’s foundations. 

 

“Tell me, Shimada Hanzo.” Her voice dripped through the air, sticky sweet. Light pulsed in time to her heartbeat, shining from the orange jewels adorning her form. The leather seemed to glow from the heat and power.

 

\--

 

He fought against the compulsion but it was a losing battle. His mouth open and his tongue was forced to move. “What do you wish to know, Mercy?”

 

“Just… how is our little friend doing? I expected to you to have returned him long before now and yet I see… buckthorn and  balisse fruit.” the Witch trailed a finger along his arm and angry red shown on the sleeve of his gi. “Are you foolish enough to have let him out of his tank, Hanzo?”

 

Hanzo swallowed the burning coal in his throat. “I have taken precautions. He has improved greatly.”

 

“Is that so?” Her singsonging made every hair on his body stand up. “I have noticed you visiting the Selkie that lives on the eastern shore. And the song of the Sea is louder where you tread. Do you intend to mate the Merman?”

 

Hanzo looked away, face hot and flushed and he would left if he thought he would be allowed. “It is not of your concern. I have no intention of returning him.”

 

“A pity.” The oxygen suddenly came back into the room. “I do hate to lose my best customer to the sea.”

 

Hanzo drew in a deep breath, feeling life come back into his limbs. “I am prepared for the worst the sea will offer me.”

 

“Then you will want something stronger than a killer whale potion.” The witch smiled and the lights brightened in the room. 

 

\--

 

Hanzo’s shoulders melted away from his ears and he offered his own smile in return. There was no predicting the Witch of the Waste but whatever he had done, had appeased her fickle love of gossip.

 

“Follow me.” She crooked her finger and Hanzo was compelled to fall in step behind her. The magic was gentle this time but he shuddered at the reminder that Witches were no slight enemy. 

 

He had been foolish to think that a underwater breathing potion and his silver sword would be enough to confront the inky creature that had locked Jesse into a curse. The witch guided him through the shop and past the counter were her great books of magic and ledgers of lives offered and lost to the back room.

 

He had never stepped for within it and instantly he knew why. There was no visible change but it was like stepping into a cold pool but something itchier that got under the skin. It nuzzled up against his bones, a prickling static, a feathery tickle that made him shudder.

 

“For slaying a monster of the deep. You need something that will let you move as one born into the heart of the ocean. From the very vents that vomit molten lava into the waters and the skies that whip the waves into hurricanes.”

 

The dragons rolled beneath his skin, chasing up and down his arms and across his back. They coiled tight around his throat as the Witch began opening the a great overgrown chest. Barnacles and coral dripped wetly onto the floor without every seeming to dry. The smell of saltwater and blood bubbled up from the old wood. Whenever it had been ripped from would be a great wound on the reef.

 

\--

Each lock fell to the floor with the tolling of a far off bell - as if heard through leagues of mist. 

**

 

The house was cold and he hung his coat on the hook in a haze. His mind drifted as he walked through the living room to the kitchen to put the kettle on for tea. It was late. Jesse would need tending.

 

He moved to the tank and then followed the color tubes up the stairs. Jesse was sleeping in the smaller tank on Hanzo’s bedside. Curled up tight in a dip in the rock, bubbles fluttered from his gills.

 

Hanzo touched his neck and his fingers came away sticky. A problem for another time. “Jesse?” He called softly as he sat on the edge of the bed. His head was heavy. His feet were glued to the floor and throbbing. He could still smell ozone and bitter sharp copper.

 

The tiny merman stirred, his long tail flashing even in the dim light of the room. Hanzo knew he should have turned the light but it was exhausting to think of even flipping the switch.

 

“Hanzo?”

 

“I am here.” Hanzo reached out to place his fingertip to the glass where Jesse was pressed. He didn’t trust his hands to work well enough to hold him. “You must return to the spelled tank. Midnight approaches.”

 

“Hazo, baby, what’s wrong?” Jesse’s face was pale in the moonlight streaming in through the window. “What happened at the witch’s shop? Did you get the ingredients for the underwear spell that you were missing?”

 

“I did.” Hanzo sighed, body bending under its own weight. He rested his head on the pillow, eyes barely focusing on Jesse. “And something that can slay a Witch, when used correctly.”

 

“Hanzo…” Jesse’s voice rose in pitch, frantic in the distance. “Hanzo what did you trade for it? What did you give?”

 

Hanzo smiled faintly, too tired to comfort his beautiful, sweet merman. “It was a small price to pay, for something that could set you free...that would let us be together.” He sighed, eyes drifting closed. He could hear the kettle singing in the kitchen below them and the steady ticking of the clock as time marched towards midnight. “Just… a few pounds of flesh.”

 


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks goes out to my Ko-fi supporters for this chapter! Love you guys <3

Jesse threw himself against the glass with great thrashes of his tail. He clawed at the smooth surface, helpless as Hanzo slumped onto the bed. “Hanzo? Honey? C’mon now, you can’t scare me like this again.” He pounded his armored fist on the tank’s side. 

Midnight was ticking closer.

Hunger gnawed at his belly, eating away the fullness of many minnows and shrimp eaten while he had waited for Hanzo. “Baby? Baby wake up.” He slapped his fins against the surface of the water, trying to sound the alarm. It was not good for the hunter to sleep, not when something was so terribly wrong.

His eyes darted from Hanzo’s face to his neck. The high and wide collar of his jacket was stained and limp as if it was wet. “Hanzo?” He scrambled to the shore and started to drag himself across the sands. He could smell the blood in the room. Thick and bitter and too strong, it churned his stomach.

The witch was cruel. He had suffered at her hands for her own entertainment. The sharp ooze of her particularly clinical magic burned his lungs and he fell to the sands coughing. Powerful magic. The type that could lock a man into a shape not his own or turn a painting of a beautiful woman into a living being. 

“Hanzo...what have you done?”

He weakly reached for his hunter, eyes sliding across his body. *he still has his hands. good.* That was good. Very good for a spell weaver and monster slayer. A sticky, soft splat made his eyes fall to the floor. *those aren’t hanzo’s boots.*

Nausea coiled in his stomach and he turned to heave up everything inside him. It couldn’t be. He couldn’t have. He would not believe it and he couldn’t bring himself to look again. The image of silver plates leaking red was burned across his eyes.

Mind racing, jesse tried to pull himself together. He was needed. Hanzo needed him and the clock was a deadly reminder of every second trickling away. He had to get to the tank downstairs. The tubes had to be removed and the lid had to be locked. 

The scent of blood would draw him here, no matter where he was in the house.

“Hanzo, you have to wake up.” He sobbed, clawing at his chest and face. Anything to distract him from the gutted emptiness welling up inside him. “Hanzo… Hanzo you have to put me away. I can’t be trusted. I can’t… I can’t help you if i’m… if i eat you.” He curled forward, retching up the last of his meal and his stomach shrank to plaster against his spine. 

The curse took him by the throat, burning like the acid coursing over his tongue and he fought to breath. It was nothing but hunger and pain. The beast was taking over, feeding on his panic and the stench of magic and blood. The two went so well together after all.

He thrashed on the sand, fighting against the black hole opened in his chest. He had to hold on. He had to wake Hanzo. The minutes were draining away and the kettle screamed in the kitchen far below. The frenzy clawed out of his brain, greedy to take what it needed. Created to destroy what he coveted most, what he loved most, he growled at the shadowy figure of his mate. 

*No!* He screamed against locked shut fangs and threw himself back into the cold water.

It shocked him sane for a blessed few seconds. Bubbles gushed from his mouth and nose, gills opening to suck in the untainted water. The blood and magic were fainter and he acted the only way he knew how to protect Hanzo.

He fled, up into the tube and down the stairs at a breakneck pace. He grabbed the sides of the tunnel to rip himself through the twists and turns as he raced for the back door. His body grew and stretched, sharp spines burst from his back and scratched deep grooves into the cheery, bright pint plastic.

Fangs grew past his lips and hung down his lip. Fins exploded from his forearms and left trails of blood in the water that shimmered in the moonlight. The back garden pond tube was not finished yet. The capped pipe hung above the water and he struck it with both fists. He had to get out of the house, out of the way back before the transformation overtook him. He would find hanzo in the upstairs bedroom and drag himself up to the sweet, opened flesh and feast.

The spells on the tube were strong, squeezing his body and he writhed as his bones were crushed as he expanded. Held on the cusp as the two spells, one of ink and blackness and the horrors of the deep and the other crafted with love and devotion competed for dominance.

His armored hand did not twist and deform into the vicious over sized claws and that one point of sameness held his sanity together for a moment longer as the clock tipped over midnight and spilled out it’s numbers back to zero.

The magic in his claws pierced the protective spells on the neon pink tube and he fell to the ground in a gush of water and sobs. His body expanding too fast and he landed with a wet, crunching slap. Bones rattled and reformed and he dragged himself up as much as he could. Hair hung over his face and he bellowed into the misty night.

A cry of hunger rose to a feverish pitch. Creatures of the night screamed back. Howling dogs and hissing cats called back and everywhere, neighbors woke in a cold sweat to slam their windows shut. No one came to look at what might have broken free in the hunter’s high walled backyard. No one dared to look for dogs that had been left out or cats that had not come home at sunset. 

Hunger throbbed behind his eyes as he dragged himself to the pond. Nothing mattered but food. Meat and flesh and the sweet blood full of oxygen that would burn inside him. The koi fish ran as his shadow cast over the pond, broken by frantic splashes.

He nearly sobbed with desperate frustration as his food raced away. He lumbered into the water on his hands and his long tail lashed and swiped across the garden. Patio furniture flew through crash into the high walls and he ripped up great chunks of rock that lined the bottom of the pool.

The fish could not avoid him for long and the monster ripped them apart in his claws to eat the tender innerards and gulp down thrashing bodies. There was not enough. No matter how many of the herd of fish he consumed, the need, the ache only throbbed in his head.

A guttural growl thundered in the night as the creature turned his head to the back gate. He could smell flesh out in the dark. Something reeking of fear and screaming to be let in. The door did not open for the dog and the merman dragged himself to the gate. Blood ran down his throat and chest and slicked his heavy body against the stone path.

Great heaving gusts of steam left his mouth. Saliva dripped in viscous drops to splat on the bespelled iron bars. He reached through the gap, claws fanned wide and the dog screamed and threw itself against the back door to the family garden across the narrow alleyway.

There was no one to help him. He was lost to the cruel turn of fate and the monster strained to reach his tail. Bloody strings swayed and snapped as he shoved his shoulder and chest through the narrow gap. He was so hungry, wasting away and the meat called to him. He wanted it. He needed it. It was his right to devour what he ached for.

The dog ran wailing down the alley and the merman roared. It rattled the windows of the houses on the row and shook autumn leaves from the trees. He was hungry! He had to eat or he would be ripped apart by the need. He turned his head, seeking blood, seeking fear and pain and suffering.

There was something in the house that flooded his mouth with drool. Something he hungered for more than anything in the world, just out of reach but helpless to resist him. Stones crumbled and turned to gravel beneath his fists as he dragged himself across the wide garden. 


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my lovely patreons for this chapter!

Hanzo struggled to breath.

 

Panic thickened his throat and held his heart hostage as the clock turned past midnight and Jesse was not in his tank. He couldn’t lift his head. Fire burned across his neck and the blood soaked into his jacket and ran down to plaster his shirt to his skin. 

 

Wet breaths rattled in his chest. He coughed but it was too weak to bring the liquid up. He did not want to see if it would be blood or salt water.  _ Fool. _ he dragged himself half way up, weight braced on his forearm. 

 

He had to do this. 

 

The thundering howls from beyond his window spurred him into a seated position, head in his hands. Spluttering, gloopy breaths did little to feed the burning fire inside him as his body hungered for oxygen. Like a flame slowly being smothered, he struggled for energy enough to do what the Witch had told him.

 

The spell was cast, like a net over his body, but he had to draw it tight and bind himself inside it. Staggering from the bed, he grabbed his sheathed sword and leaned against it. The blade hummed in his hands. Excited to slay whatever monster was so near and Hanzo did not know if it responded to the merman slaughtering his carefully raised koi or something closer.

 

He dragged himself across the bedroom and hall to the bathroom. The edge of the counter bit into his stomach as he pitched over it into the sink. He turned the water on, closing his ears to the screaming outside. 

 

Bloody footprints followed him into the bathroom and he looked down, weight held on his elbows on the counter. Red seeped from the grooves of the silver boots plating and spread in a steady pool around him. The pain was distant, numb in a way that would break through shock before long.

 

The witch’s magic would have done it’s work by then but he would not be able to find out. To remove the boots, would be to break his bargain with the Witch of the Waste. He had to hold on to his self control and not look. No one could look past the shining silver clasps and peel them back to reveal the nightmare.

 

_ Or it could be all in your mind. _ He fought down bile and forced his eyes to the sink. It was filling slowly, so slowly compared to the furious pace of his heart. If he showed Jesse, would the merman tell him he was mad and his legs were as they should be? Or would he scream as mangled and tortured flesh gushed out of the boots and was ruined forever.

 

Hanzo groaned, cold to his core, and lowered his head to the sink. Running water splashed across his cheeks and he gargled a breath. Pink flooded the water and bubbled from the airaded force of the tap. He had to tilt his head to fit under the facet and let the water rise across his cheek. 

 

Soon it climbed the curve of his beard and over his mouth. Clashes and banging came through the house as Jesse destroyed the backyard and yet all Hanzo could do was steel himself as the water rose.

 

It tickled his nostril and climbed inside and he remained still. Wheezing breathes grew thicker and he struggled with the panic thundering inside his skull. His neck ached and blood thickened the water. Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried to block out Jesse’s howls of hunger and the revolt of his body.

 

Everything within him, screamed to get out of the water. He could not trust the witch. He could not trust his own eyes. It was all a trick. A trap. Revenge for taking Jesse and not destroying him or saving him or doing something all together unfathomable that the Witch of the Waste desired.

 

The first breath of water burned like fire. He gagged and choked. Blood gushed from the six deep slices on his neck. Three on either side gaped open from the force and swirled feted black.  _ For Jesse. It’s for Jesse. Do it. Just fucking breathe in. _ He took another breath of water against every instinct, body clenched tight as fist.

 

Blood and pus purged from the wounds and he rattled through the inhale. Water forced his chest wider and his ribs groaned. Agony spiked through his core and ripped at his throat as his lungs were crushed. He reared from the water, cracking his head on the facet and staggering back to hit the wall. 

 

Terror shook his body and the world swirled black at the edges. He had to get back to the water. He could feel the wounds transforming, moving and fluttering against the high cowl of his jacket. Everything was fuzzy, body starting to shut down from lack of oxygen as he shoved the wet jacket away from his neck and down his arms.

 

Falling into the sink, his teeth clinked painfully against the porcelain and busted lips parted in a sharp breath to scream. Water gushed into him, gills wide open and a new set of lungs expanded into the abscess in his torso. As they filled, his others were flattened but in the moment, all he could do was suck down another wonderful gulp of water. 

 

The pain began to recede and his head cleared as oxygen made it back to his brain. He reached up with shaking fingers to touch the slashes on the left side of his neck. They were no longer wounds but soft, filled gills that opened and closed as he breathed.

 

When he raised his head and neck from the water he breathed out a smooth stream of water through them. It soaked his shirt and down his front but on the next intake… his human lungs expanded and he could breathe again.

 

The gills were little more than scars- as if the deep cuts made by a silver scalp had healed a years worth in those few panicked breathes as he teetered on the edge of belief and terror.

 

A thunderous crash shook the house to its foundations as the back door exploded in ward. Magic spells of protection and binding blazed and crackled with screams as they twisted and broke. The reek of the sea and rotting things in tidal pools filled the house as Jesse thudded against the floor and walls.

 

“Jesse, you are not a monster!” He roared down the staircase as bloody hands extended into view. They scrambled against the slick wood before tearing in. Great strips of wood curled up beneath the nails and flaked away as Jesse dragged himself around the sharp corner. A heavy thud and wet sucking sound made the hair on the back of Hanzo’s neck stand up.

 

The sword sang in his hands, a shimmering blue white light heated the sheath as it tried to escape. Sea fronds and the crashing of waves against rocky shores filled his ears. He waited at the top of the stairs as his lover slowly oozed into view.

 

Dead eyes stared up at him behind dripping hair. Red smeared across his mouth and beard dribbled down in slow streams to Jesse’s chest. There was no recognition in his face, only agony, only pain twisting it further and further.

 

“Jesse, you know who I am. You know how you hunger for me.” He set the point of the silver sword between his feet. It cast rippling light over the stairwell and pierced the heavy shadows on his lover’s face. “You know I will feed your every need.” 

 

Jesse tossed and turned, questing as if he had lost the trail of his prey. 

 

Hanzo took the first step, unsteady. The pressure made red leak from the boots and run down in little streams. “Come back to me. I have not let you starve in all these months, have i now?”

 

Jesse growled, massive jaws parting wide and a thick purple tongue stretched out to lap at the stairs as if scented for the source of the blood making its way slowly toward him. The merman’s great bulk tensed and he surged up the first few stairs, claws reaching out to hook into the abused wood.

 

“You know I will always care for you. There is fresh salmon in the fridge and the enchiladas you love so much from Mrs  Rodríguez’s shop. You will not find those in any ocean.” Hanzo took another slow step down, balancing on the shining sword in his hands. His heart thundered in his throat but he knew monsters and beasts - had slayed them for years - and he knew that the pinprick of humanity in Jesse’s slitted eyes was enough to hold out hope.


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Fujo for this chapter!

The merman growled, wet and rattling in his chest as he dragged himself up the stairs. His vision was red, focused down to a singular point. A trickle of blood, running down the wooden steps like the finest nectar of the gods.

 

He groaned as he thrust his face into the pool, lapping up the bitter, tainted crimson. Metal and magic corrupted it but he continued to drink. His fangs scratched deep grooves into the wood as he bit and licked at the food. He was so hungry. Why didn’t anyone understand?

 

He just needed to eat.

 

He needed meat.

 

The human was made of meat. He would be more filling than the koi. More than a mouthful. The words penetrated his thick skull slowly. Food. Care. Hanzo. He blinked both sets of eyelids up at the human above him.

 

The sword shone brighter and it hurt his eyes. He brought his inner set of lids closed and growled at the shimmering silver. He knew how it tasted plunged into his flesh. It caste strange, glowing blue symbols over the walls.

 

They moved, coiling and flowing like storm clouds and he sensed the energy within them. A great and powerful force like the Witch but somehow familiar. He pressed his face against the wall, sliding in a smear of blood to nuzzle against a dragon’s head. It was only made of light but he knew the shape.

 

There was a shape like that on his lover’s shoulder.

 

*Lover*

 

The thought shot through him like a bolt of lightning. He had a lover. Someone that would be with him. Someone that could help through his heat and fill him to the gushing. *Please* He whined, thrashing against the stairs in great undulations of his tail. 

 

It was Hanzo. He knew Hanzo. He had begged and ached for him and he had him within his grasp now. He was bigger than the hunter who leaked the sweet scent of blood and the sea. Long and dripping, his tongue lulled out to taste the air again. He needed to eat his fill.

 

Anything to stop the pain twisting sharper in his gut every second.

 

“Food,” he rumbled from the cavernous pit of his chest and it came out garbled from a mouth with too many teeth. He bit and chewed on the soaked wood of the stairs, ignoring the stab of splinters and taste of his own blood.

 

The human Hanzo softened and the dragons grew quiet around them in the stairwell. He smiled and it was so familiar that Jesse smiled back from a twisted mouth. It was his Hanzo. 

 

“Do you want me to get you some enchiladas?” Hanzo asked, the sword still between his feet, hands resting on the pommel.

 

A stinging ache spread across his chest and back as he forced himself to hold his head up. To see Hanzo’s face was to remain just this side of sane. “Yes.” The word was strangled in his throat but it made it to the open air.

 

“Be good and back down the stairs.” Hanzo waved him down like a dog and Jesse found himself obeying reluctantly. It was easier going down than getting up and he slipped and slide in his own dripping slick. It bubbled up from beneath each tail scale, trying to compensate for the lack of water. He needed to get back in the water but he would rather die on land hunting for food.

 

Hanzo was slow on the stairs, leaking blood with every step and Jesse whined for another taste. He could eat the soup of flesh trapped within those boots and slurp the marrow from all the perfect slices of bone. The witch had been thorough in her destruction and he knew the terrible instrument she used for spells of undoing.

 

“You must move back or you will get no food.” hanzo tapped the sheath of the silver sword against his shoulder and he begrudgingly scooted back. A great lash of his tail sent the couch tumble over with a smear of green ooze across the back.

“Need.” He growled reaching out his clawed hands. It was smacked lightly and he grunted as he pulled it back. Heavy fangs gnashed and he chewed on the air as if it could fill him up. His eyes followed the Hunter as he stepped past and wobbled through the living room to the kitchen. He followed with a wet sucking sound, licking up the bloody footprints, attention trained at the man’s legs.

 

He wanted to rip and tear but hanzo knew what he needed. Hanzo understood he was hungry. Hanzo always fed him when he was hungry and bought him only the best food. He just had to wait, just had to endure the shattering pains radiating from his core. 

 

“Stay there.” Hanzo ordered and Jesse’s primitive brain took it as an alpha’s orders. He whined and scratched helplessly at the floor on his belly. It was concave, shrinking towards his spine and he would die if he didn’t get something to eat.

 

It was instinct, terrible and unfathomable, and the armored shell of his left arm groaned and flexed beneath his teeth. Meat. He needed meat. He ripped at the plating. It yanked and tugged on the flesh of his elbow and bicep. *meat.* he sank his teeth in to the hearty muscle and sucked the gush of blood down with a whine of relief.

 

\--

 

It hurt but distantly. Nothing could compare to the ache of nothingness inside him that could swallow the sun and still gape with need. The chunk of flesh came free and a wet splat filled the kitchen. The blood ran down his chin and fell to the floor and he granshed and ripped the hunk of meat.

 

“Jesse! No!”

 

Jesse growled, throwing his head back to avoid the hunter’s grip. He thrashed, clawing blindly as the man tried to take his food. The hunter was heavy, weighed down with the metal boots and the sword. He bucked, rolling his hips to buck the man off but somehow, he couldn’t bring himself to twist over and crack the man’s skull open on the hard tile floor.

 

It was too close to his heat to kill an alpha that could help him. He snarled, digging his fangs into his right forearm instead of the man’s throat. Hands dug into his face and he roared. It made him let go of his mouthful of flesh and in that moment, a fishful of cold enchilada was stuffed into his throat.

 

He gagged and bit down a second too late to get the meat offered to his maw. The food stuck to the inside of his gullet and he coughed and wretched and finally swallowed the sticky, slimy mess down. It hit his gut like a lead weight and he went boneless. Laying on his back, panting, Jesse looked at the man straddling his waist.

 

“Hanzo?” he rumbled, more monster than man as he licked at his wounds. He could eat the human, alpha or not, but there would be no more enchiladas with beef and cheese if he did.

 

“Fuck, Jesse… Don’t bite yourself.” Hanzo squeezed the gaping hole in his arm, the blood welled up between his fingers and dripped. What a waste. “Don’t move an inch or I will knock you over the head and wait for dawn.”

 

Jesse whined but after a moment nodded. He missed the solid, grounding weight of Hanzo as soon as he rose and he was too far gone to feel shame at the fresh gush of slick along his tail and the softening of his tight, little slit. 

 

He needed to be stuffed and he restlessly ground his hips into the air as his mate brought a casserole dish filled with tasty human food back to his side. “Hanzo.” He garbled, grabbing at the man’s arm. He sliced through the fabric and left bright red stripes but the man didn’t seem to flinch.

 

“You must eat.” A wooden spool loaded heavily with mashed up mexican food was thrust in his face and he tongued it eagerly. The spice was fierce and tears welled up as he crunched down on the mouthful. The spoon came back just a stick but it didn’t hurt the flavor as he grounded the wood and beans together.

 

He missed the look of a man somehow surprised besides having no reason to not expect that particular outcome. The tray was offered to him and he buried his face into it, tongue slapping and squelching as he moistened the food. It was easier to lick and gulp down but it wasn’t enough.

 

His flesh hand reached down, plunging into two fingers into his dripping slit. He bucked against them, furiously trying to sate his hungers at once but nether was quite enough.


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my Patrons for this chapter!

Hanzo couldn’t tear his eyes away.

 

The merman moaned and thrashed on the kitchen floor, smearing iridescent clear ooze over his tail. It seemed to sparkle in the dim kitchen light, daring Hanzo to look closer at the taboo unfolding in front of him.

 

“More, More,” Jesse begged, his face contorting into monstrous shapes. He thrust the fingers of his flesh hand deeper into his slit and more fluid gushed out. It dribbled down the powerful sides of his tail and set the red scales to dancing. 

 

The smell of the sea invaded Hanzo’s lungs and he sucked it down. *Beautiful* He bit back a moan as Jesse thrust his hips high off the ground to chase the thickness of his fingers. It wasn’t. Enough for him and the slit that had seemed to tiny and small before now gaped. Lurid pink and swollen puffy flesh clung to the man’s fingers and as he spread them, Hanzo shuddered.

 

The cloaca of sorts was filled with hundreds of tiny, undulating nubs of flesh that gripped and tugged at the intrusion and at the apex of the little pocket, a thick one grew. It waved listlessly in the air, three pronged feelers searching for a mate’s tight hole to plunge into.

 

“Hold on, Jesse,” Hanzo murmured before tearing his eyes away. Wobbly legs barely carried him to the fridge. He ripped through the drawers and pulled out the meat stashed away. Dripping and fresh from the butcher, he held it out to his love.

 

The merman’s head snapped up. Wild hair clung to his face, obscuring his eyes in shadow until a trick of the light flashed golden disks behind the eyelids. “Hungry.” Jesse’s voice rumbled dark and wet. The gills at his neck and ribs gaped open with a rattling breath. “Hanzo….help me.”

 

“I will, Jesse.” He crept closer, feeling slick under his boots and he was quick to kneel. His new legs were not steady. Leaning against the thick tail, he braced himself with his elbow on the muscle to offer the hunk of meat in the other. 

 

It brought him close to where Jesse needed him. Wet squelches filled the kitchen, growing more frantic as the clock ticked onwards toward dawn. He did not know how to break Jesse out of the beastial form of the curse. He did not know how he had done it once between when he had almost perished to the merman. He could only hope to keep him calm until dawn. 

 

Jesse’s claws tore through the meat like it was cotton. Great chunks disappeared into the fanged maw and the blood ran down his muscled chest. The scales flashed red and gold along his collarbones and dripped luxuriously down the curves of his strong chest pectorals. 

 

Hanzo struggled the breath, mouth dry, as he took in the beauty of the creature. A flush rolled down his chest and into his groin, watching the merman eat and fuck himself on his own fingers. 

 

Stroking his free hand along Jesse’s tail, he tried to smooth the wild merman. Maybe it was just to feel the velvety slickness that oozed out from beneath every scale. Petting with the grain, he spread the slick to coat the delicate fins sprouting from each hip. 

 

Jesse jumped under his touch and whined, high and thin and needy. “Please. Please. Help.” 

 

“I want to help. What do I do?” Hanzo tried to smooth, placing a hand against Jesse’s cheek. It was distorted by the powerful jaw and fangs bulging beneath his lips. “I want to help.”

 

He knew the dangerous path he walked, the hellfire he invited. Heart in his throat, he ached for Jesse to ask for what he clearly needed.

 

“Touch. Touch me.” Jesse groaned into his palm, overgrown whiskers tickling the skin. “Please. More.” The words barely reached Hanzo’s ears before the merman had taken his hand and dragged it down to his gooey slit.

 

Stars swirled through Hanzo, a blurry rush of light and eagerness and all the air was burned inside him. He traced the puffy flesh lightly, just at the edge. Jesse wasted no time stuffing himself with his fingers again.

 

Hanzo shivered at the burning heat of flesh as he slipped a finger down into the gushing hole. It sucked him in desperately, hundreds of little nubs undulating to drag his digit deep, to the knuckle. There was no going slow or soft.

 

Each and every one of those little wriggling appendages gripped his finger as he slowly pulled it free. Jesse moaned, head thrown back to crack against the floor. He bucked, throwing himself into the air to try to chase the feeling.

 

Even in the slick, Hanzo’s rough and calloused fingers could catch at the insides. Jesse’s own scale covered fingers couldn’t compare and Hanzo was quick to thrust two back inside. Moving with the merman’s own, he fucked in counter time. The angle let him tug on the edges, gaping him open further and showing off the secret insides.

 

They were as lovely as the rest of him. Crimson and flushed, they beckoned him in and he swore at the thought of stuffing Jesse up with his cock till he burst. There would be no eggs to lay in that fat juicy pocket or maybe there would be.

 

He spiraled into the frenzy with Jesse, adding a third finger and stretching out his thumb. It hooked and caught on something buried in the puffy flesh. He dug the dip in between the slick folds and Jesse screamed beneath him.

 

Hanzo sank his thumb in the wet, tight hole to the knuckle and watched the merman come undone with sobs of desperation. Pain, pleasure, it was impossible to tell from the way he writhed.

 

A great sweep of his tail knocked the dining room table over in splintering wood. Hanzo rolled with the movement. The tail was hot beneath his thighs, slick ooze and scales grinding against him. 

 

Gasping, he clamped down on the muscle. Pleasure spiraled through that tiny amount of friction set fireworks off behind his eyes. He thrust along the length, slick and hot and dangerous. Jesse could lose control of himself at any moment and rip his throat out. The merman could kill him without even meaning to and devour his body before he could blink.

 

Precum leaked down his cock and mixed with the slick already coating his pants and crotch. It made the grind between them so smooth. Torturing him by feathery degrees of pressure, he fucked into Jesse’s holes with his fingers and the merman covered his face with his arm. 

 

A low wailing rose from him, reverberating through his chest and Hanzo watched in fascination as the slits along his ribs gaped open for water that wasn’t there. The volume of Jesse’s cries increased as his body shook with them, sound rushing out of the pretty pink slits and from his mouth.

 

Like a chorus of debauchery, tones shifted and melded together from one creature. The merman shuddered and bucked, rolling his hips up to get more. Hanzo let him have all the friction and fullness he needed, thrusting all four fingers into his cloaca.

  
  



	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks Amanda for sponsoring this part on patreon!

Jesse screamed for more, hips rolling up to chase the friction of Hanzo’s fingers. He needed more, so much more and he sobbed for relief. The pressure was overwhelming. It thundered in his veins and coiled tight around his hips. 

 

Hanzo was touching him, in all his monstrous horrors and the thought penetrated the thick haze that devoured his mind. If it had been anyone else, he would have ripped them limb from limb and gulped them down before chasing his own pleasure.

 

The heat built beneath his eyelids and he sang in tortured pleasure. He was so full, stuffed and stretched till his dripping opening gaped. Tensing around Hanzo did little to satisfy his needs and he thrashed and grabbed for Hanzo’s thigh.

 

Blood filled the air, fresh and untainted. He hadn’t meant to hurt him. But the blood was euphoric as he sucked in a breath. Hanzo’s blood was rich with power. It was not that of just a magic user but of an ancient and terrible force.

 

Licking his fingers, he savored the taste. Feverishly, he sucked them down. The armor on his hand cut his tongue and he chewed on the heavy plates. He needed more. “Hungry.” He moaned and slammed his tail down on the floor. The house shook around them. A glass fell from the shelf.

 

“Jesse, it is me. It is Hanzo. I want to help you. Tell me how to help you.” Hanzo growled above him.

 

The fear and determination was clear on his face. Haloed by the moonlight streaming through the kitchen window, his mate was an angel. Silver ran down his hair, liquid and shimmering as the sea. He ran his fingers through it, tears bubbling up between his eyelids. They dribbled down into his shaggy, matted hair.

 

“More. More Hanzo.”

 

Many vibrating tones echoed through his chest and from his gills and mouth. It was a horror of crystal windchimes and gurgling flesh as Hanzo’s hand closed around his cock. He keened, throwing his head back and gnashing his teeth.

 

The floor cracked his skull and everything went black.

 

****

 

The sun was bright in his eyes. Blinking away the spots, he slowly rolled over in his tank and hid his face in his arms. A sting in his right arm made him groan. The water was scented with blood. He was bleeding.

 

It was a surprise and he turned to lick at a bite wound. It was from his own mouth and he shuddered. He had gone wild and lost himself to the curse. *Hanzo* he jerked up and dashed to the surface. He broke it with a gasp and even the air hurt on his throat. He dunked his head under and breathed in the water. 

 

Gushing through his lungs and out his gills, he purged as much of the lingering taste of blood from his body. He didn’t want to think about the hunger that had driven him mad and… He shied away from the thought of what he and Hanzo had done.

 

He was a monster.

 

Shame colored his cheeks and he looked down at his own torso and tail. Gingerly he touched his slit and it unsealed to flash lurid pink. It stung from the stretch of the night before as the salt water reached the inside.

 

Hissing, he forced the opening closed and held it tight by force of will. He had begged Hanzo to fuck him when he was out of his mind and frenzied by his most basic nature. He had wanted it too, still wanted to feel Hanzo’s strong, gentle fingers pumping into his holes.

 

Slick pooled in the pink pocket and a little dribbled out from the hard stretching. He was loose and it showed. He covered himself with a hand. Sinking down to the bottom of the tank, he disappeared into the greenery. 

 

It waved gently and through the leaves, he took in the disaster that had overtaken the house. The madness that he had created. There was blood smeared down the steps and through the hall to the back door. It hung off its hinges.

 

There were great bite marks sunk into the wood and chunks missing. The couch was tipped over and all the pictures on the walls had ended up broken underfoot. Glass shards gleamed in the sunlight, mixed with dried blood and the shimmering streaks of his own oozing tail. It would have made for a pretty bit of coin on the black market.

 

It had many magical properties that could strength spell work and hold energy within it’s vicious form. He wanted to gag to see it washed over the floor and up the wall in undulating streaks. It would take a powerful spell to clean it and the blood up.

 

Repairing Hanzo’s wonderful home would take longer. He could only see a little into the kitchen but the table was shattered and a leg was abandoned up against the cabinets. He groaned and slipped away from the glass to hide in the deepest, most secret part of his cave.

 

It was blessedly dark and quiet.

 

Hanzo wouldn’t be able to hear him cry or see the pathetic mess he was. If only he could break the curse and be free of the terrible monster that lived in the primitive part of his psyche. 

 

Stomach rumbling, he bit back a little sob. How was he hungry even now, even after gorging himself the night before. He was even thinner than before. He could feel his ribs jabbing into his skin and he whined for a fat juicy minnow or hunk of salmon. 

 

Would Hanzo even be in the house still? Had he fled to saver territory after Jesse had been forced by unconsciousness back into his tiny, bound form and sealed in the tank? He would not blame Hanzo a bit if he had.

 

Hanzo had already done too much.

 

The boots of silver plate and intricate woven mesh were clear in his mind. He had seen the Witch use them on desperate men and women before. It was never a simple bargain. The rules always seemed to simple but the temptation to look proved too strong to most.

 

There was nothing but a sludge of bone and flesh and blood. To unbind them and look, it would all pour out and never be put back together again. Jesse shuddered at the thought of Hanzo giving so much, risking so much for him. 

 

He wished Hanzo had talked to him about it before making a deal. Jesse knew the Witch of the Waste better than Hanzo did, or at least he knew the dark and terrible side to her that her customers never saw.

 

Tearing at his hair, he sobbed to know the man he loved was suffering for him. It was not a painless thing to bear, the Witch was not kind enough to remove the ache. Witches seldom showed mercy, no matter who their prey and he would be glad to never meet another after breaking the curse.

 

They would find the Witch of the Deep and destroy her. A cold chill rushed over him at the memory of the glowing silver sword Hanzo had held the night before. It had not been a simple weapon crafted to kill the magical beasts that roamed the countryside. A weapon crafted not just to burn with the silver coating but to channel energy greater than metal.

 

Hanzo was not a simple man.

 

There were spirits great and powerful that lived within in skin and roamed across it in the shape of inky dragons. He did not want to ever face them. Surely they could rage through the sword and tear the Witch limb from limb and scatter her tentacles to the corners of the sea.

 

*Hanzo could sear them and eat them with rice* the thought punched a weak laugh out of him. Hanzo would have appreciated the sentiment. He wriggled out of the cave enough to look at the bloody stairs. *Where are you Hanzo?* The tunnel system was still closed off, sealed with the lid of the tank. The magic hummed as if to warn him not to try to push it off.

 

A door closed on the second floor above him and he sighed in relief. Even if he was not ready to see Hanzo, he was glad that he was safe. 

  
  



	32. Chapter 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sponsoring this chapter Fujo!

Hanzo hobbled from the bathroom and back to his room on stiff legs. The metal clicked softly on the floor and he frowned at them. The blood had thankfully stopped. It had taken a hard scrubbing to get them clean however and the clear, iridescent slick from Jesse still gleamed in the seams.

 

A flush darkened his cheeks.

 

He wasn’t ready to face the merman. Jesse would surely be angry that he had taken advantage of his wild state. It had been a mistake, to pump Jesse full of his fingers and cum grinding against his tail.

 

The pair of stained and ruined pants were shoved to the bottom of the small trashcan in his room and he swore he could still smell the sea in the air. He groaned and sank onto his back on his bed. Covering his eyes with his forearm, he focused on breathing slow and deep.

 

Jesse had knocked himself out in the throws of his own pleasure. The merman had certainly enjoyed what he had done to him and begged for even more. Jesse would have let him fuck that sweet, pink pocket of flesh. He had practically sang for it.

 

Hanzo rolled over to bury his face in his pillow. It didn’t help the growing problem between his legs as the pressure reminded him of riding the merman’s tail. Would it have been better, more moral, to have ridden the merman?

 

Shivering at the thought of that strange, tentacle like cock stretching him open, he cursed himself. It was perverse. Disgusting. He wanted it so bad it ached. The searching nibs on the tip would just know how to find and milk his prostate till he would beg for it to stop from overstimulation.   
  


“Fuck.” He groaned, twitching against the mattress. 

 

He ground helplessly. There wasn’t enough resistance to be satisfying and he couldn't bring himself to take matters into his own hands. He sighed against the pillow. The dawn had broken some time ago and he had time before he had to deal with the chaos that his home had devolved into.

 

Laying and thinking were proving treacherous. He hauled himself to a seated position and ignored the tent in his sweatpants. The blood stains on the rug in front of his bed and leading into the bathroom were a good place to start cleaning.

 

His legs throbbed as he hobbled back into the hall to grab clean rags, a bucket and a vial of sanitizing crystals from the closet. He filled the bucket in the bathtub and added the shimmering blue stones. It bubbled and hissed with a flash and the scent of burning metal. It glowed as he started scrubbing the dried ring of blood. The water ran red for a long time. 

 

The blue tint faded once the area was magically sanitized.

 

*At least my knees don’t hurt.* He mused to himself as he scooted across the floor. The plates of the boots acted as a strange cushion and at least they stayed dry. He would have to tell the Witch as much when he returned to have the boots removed.

 

When the ordeal was over and he had proven that his love for Jesse was stronger than the fear. The silver sword hummed from the weapon rack in his room. The dragons coiled around it protectively. They had decided it was preferable to helping clean up.

 

Hanzo couldn’t blame them. The shimmering ooze that was still somehow wet on the walls did not want to come off. He gave up with the rag and used the flat of his knife to scrape it off in a small area. The ooze quivered on the metal and Hanzo considered what to do with it. 

 

*Interesting.* the smaller dragon crooned, coming to alight on his shoulder. The ooze glowed faintly still and it cast the dragon’s shadow across the wall. No other light could produce such a feat. 

 

Storing that bit of information for later, Hanzo continued cleaning the stairwell. It was the least destroyed of his home but he was winded by the end of it. Muscles aching, he settled on the bottom step and rested his head on the wall. 

 

The view was exhausting.

 

There was chaos and destruction.

 

The tank was still sealed and safe and he breathed a small sigh of relief. He was not ready to face Jesse. He would have to before long or his lover would begin to suffer. They had to see each other gain at some point. Perhaps Jesse would not even remember everything that had happened. Or would that be worse?

 

He thought back to the time they had kissed in Jesse’s tank. He had been small that time and it had been sweet and soft. He ached for that again. It was foolish. Reckless. Irresponsible even to leave his home in the state it was in for a bit of personal comfort. 

 

The magic packet was still in the hall workshop. Genji had warned him against using it on himself and the stress it could put on his body. The Witch had made no guarantees about the boots stability when tested by magic.

 

He still carried the folded bit of paper to the kitchen. Glass crunched beneath his metal feet and he laughed to himself at the unexpected benefit. He would have to clean up later. For now, he pulled out a massive hunk of salmon and carried his armload to the tank. 

 

Heart pounding in his throat, he approached the tank with heavy footsteps. Surprising Jesse and scaring him was the last thing he wanted. They had both had more excitement than necessary in the last few days. 

 

He set it down and peered into the undulating seaweed. “Jesse?” he whispered, unable to see the familiar flash of red.

 

The tank lid rattled as he undid the lock and the latch. It was his hands shaking. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves. It still smelled like blood and the sea thickly here. It clung to the back of his throat as he set the lid down to the side. 

 

Giving the water a gentle tap with his finger, he called for Jesse a little louder. There was no response and he chewed on his bottom lip. Jesse had been breathing when he put him in the tank and he had seen his gills open and close once he was in the water.

 

The thought of the merman drowning while unconscious stabbed him in the gut. He caught himself from thrusting his hand into the water to grope blindly for Jesse. If the merman was not willing to come out and see him… he couldn’t blame the man.

 

He cut the hunk of salmon into bite sized pieces and dropped them into the water one at a time. They slowly sank into the reeds and disappeared. “Jesse, I am going to come into the tank.” He murmured, letting the last salmon piece fall into the water. 

 

It was selfish. The thought nagged at him as he made a little stairway of books up to the tank and set a few knicknacks inside to use on the way out. He set the last one in place, sprinkled himself in the shrinking powder holding his breath, and let the world melt. 

 

It streaked around him in bright, sunlit colors. 

 

The table was warm beneath his back. He stared up at the ceiling with a smile. The rays of the morning sun reflected off the metal of his boots and threw shimmering light into the air. He laughed to see flecks of blood on the ceiling.

 

He would need to hire a professional toxic cleanup crew. Trying to do it himself would be impossible. The thought was a relief in a way and he found himself standing. Being small, the weight on his ruined legs wasn’t as intense. It felt so at least and he scaled the staircase of books without much trouble.

 

The sand was hard to walk on and he slide a little on his way to the edge of the water. There wasn’t anything to hold on and steady himself as he sat. His metal legs in the water, he watched the reeds below.

 

They slowly parted.

 

Jesse looked up through the water and smiled.


End file.
